CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - For the second straight season and third time overall, Stony Brook senior Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand/Wanganui Collegiate) is the Northeast Region Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) announced regional award winners for the indoor track and field season Monday. Also among the honorees in the Northeast region was Boston University men's assistant coach Gabe Sanders.
Van Dalen will wrap up the indoor season this weekend at the NCAA Championships in Nampa, Idaho competing in the mile and the 3,000 meter run. She boasts the nation’s fastest times in the 1,000 meters and the 1,500 meters and posted the second fastest mile time. Van Dalen won both the mile and the 3,000 at the conference championship meet in February, setting new meet records in both races. At the 2011 NCAA Championship, Van Dalen finished third in the 3,000 to grab All-American honors. The New Zealand native also earned the regional honor for the 2008-09 season.
Sanders was named the Northeast Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year. Sanders coached a collection of sprinters to a gold medal sweep of the sprinting events (60m, 200m, 400m, 500m) at the conference championship.
Regional award winners are chosen by coaches in each respective region.
Van Dalen will be joined at the NCAA Championships by Boston University high jumper Allison Barwise (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional). The junior won the coaches' award at the conference championship for earning the most points as an individual, winning the high jump while placing second in the pentathlon and third in the long jump. Barwise qualified as the No. 13 seed with a 1.83 meter jump.
For the men, Binghamton senior Erik van Ingen (Marathon, N.Y./Marathon) and Boston U.'s Rich Peters (Bristol, England/Brimsham Green School) will be representing the America East in Idaho. Van Ingen and Peters will both compete in the mile run. Van Ingen posted the third fastest time in the country this season at 3:56.37 and led the Bearcats to a third-place finish at the conference championship. The senior earned first team All-American status last year by finishing fifth overall. Peters qualified sixth with his time of 3:57.83 and will be making his first NCAA Championship appearance.
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 9 from 7:30-11:45 p.m. ET and March 10 from 8-11:15 p.m. ET. NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream the remaining portions of the meet (Friday, noon-7:30 p.m.ET and Saturday, 12:30 - 8 p.m. ET).