The 2014 Indoor Track and Field individual awards feature six of the nine America East member institutions. On the women’s side, Albany, UMBC, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire and Vermont were honored, while the men’s awards were split between Albany and Binghamton, the winner and runner up of the event.
The Catamounts’ Brittany St. Clair was recognized as the Most Outstanding Women’s Field Performer of the Year. St. Clair won the Pentathlon with 3,799 points. She collected top-10 finishes in all five events, including her victories in the high jump (5’9.25”) and the long jump (19’0.5”). St. Clair was the first women’s track & field participant from Vermont to win the award in 10 years (Kristal Kostiew, 2004).
Mercedes Jackson of UMBC was named the Most Outstanding Women’s Track Performer for the second-straight year, as she sprinted to a pair of wins in the 60 and 200-meter dashes, clocking in at 7.42 and 24.00 seconds, respectively.
New Hampshire’s Elinor Purrier ran the anchor leg for the winning quartet in the women’s distance medley (11:31.55) and won the mile in 4:41.73 to be named the Most Outstanding Women’s Rookie of the Year.
Albany won the Coaching Staff of the Year for the women’s team and earned Co-Coaching Staff of the Year alongside the Bearcat Men.
For the Great Danes, Alfonso Scannapieco took home the Most Outstanding Men’s Field Performer of the Year. Scannapieco propelled himself over the bar at 17’0.75” in the pole vault for a gold medal, earned silver in the men’s long jump (23’1.25”) and finished eighth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.63 seconds), collecting 19 points for the Great Danes.
Binghamton won a pair of individual awards on the men’s side in Jesse Garn and Jon Alkins. Garn was honored as the Most Outstanding Track Performer of the Year after notching a victory in the 1000-meter run (2:26.19) and helping lift the Bearcats men’s distance medley squad to a first-place finish in 9:53.27. Alkins posted a handful of impressive performances as he earned a gold medal in the 200-meter dash (21.58) and silver medal in the 60-meter dash (6.96 seconds). Alkins was also part of the 4x400-meter relay foursome that grabbed the bronze medal in 3:16.94.
The Coaches' Award was given to the track and field performers who collected the most points throughout the weekend. UMass Lowell’s Elisabeth Monty and Vermont’s Yolanda Ngarambe shared the women’s award as they both earned 20.5 points. Monty collected 10 points from her first-place finish in the 500 meter (1:12.49), eight from her silver medal 60-meter hurdles performance (8.64 seconds) and 2.5 for her leg in the River Hawks 4x400-meter relay victory (3:47.96). Ngarambe won the 800-meter in 2:11.57 (10 points), clocked in at 4:47.35 in the mile for second (8 points) and was part of the Catamounts' winning 4x800-meter relay (9:13.07), grabbing 2.5 points.
On the men’s side, Albany’s Kareem Morris was bestowed the Coaches' Award as he tallied 23 points in three events. He sprinted to a 6.91 60-meter dash time for a first-place finish (10 points), crossed the line at 21.8 seconds in the 200-meter dash (8 points) and landed at 22’8.5” in the long jump to earn five points off a fourth-place finish.
2014 Individual Indoor Track & Field Awards
Women’s Co-Coaches’ Award – Elisabeth Monty, UMass Lowell & Yolanda Ngarambe, Vermont
Men’s Coaches’ Award – Kareem Morris, Albany
Most Outstanding Women’s Track Performer - Mercedes Jackson, UMBC
Most Outstanding Men’s Track Performer - Jesse Garn, Binghamton
Most Outstanding Women’s Field Performer - Brittany St. Clair, Vermont
Most Outstanding Men’s Field Performer – Alfonso Scannapieco, Albany
Most Outstanding Women’s Rookie – Elinor Purrior, New Hampshire
Most Outstanding Men’s Rookie - Jon Alkins, Binghamton
Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year - Albany
Men’s Co-Coaching Staff of the Year – Albany & Binghamton