Juno Named Regional Track Athlete of the Year;
Hill Earns Top Coach Honors
After claiming her third career NCAA Division III track and field
championship last weekend, UW-Stevens Point senior Leah Juno has been
selected as the Division III Midwest Region outdoor track and field
Athlete of the Year.
Juno, who was also the region's indoor track and field Athlete of
the Year, captured the 800 meters title at last weekend's Division III
outdoor championships in Decatur, Ill. for her second straight outdoor
title. The Brillion native won the indoor national championship earlier
this spring.
Also, UW-Stevens Point women's track and field coach Len Hill was
honored as the Midwest Region Coach of the Year. Hill, who was also the
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference outdoor track and field
Coach of the Year, won both awards for the first time in his 17th
season as the Pointers' coach.
The regional coaches selected both award winners prior to last
weekend's national meet. UW-Stevens Point placed 13th in the
women's standings, marking the Pointers' highest finish since a ninth
place performance in 1993.
Juno's victory last weekend was the seventh women's outdoor track
and field championship in UW-Stevens Point history. Her indoor title this
season was the fifth in school history. She is just the second Pointer
ever to win three individual championships, joining Michelle Riedi, who
won four high jump titles from 1984-86.
Juno's outdoor win marked the first time any UW-Stevens Point
women's track and field athlete has won back-to-back outdoor national
titles in the same event. She also won the 800 meters at the WIAC outdoor
championships for the second straight year.
Hill has guided the Pointers to a steady climb in the team
standings at both the NCAA Division III and WIAC meets over recent
seasons. The team went from not earning a single point at the NCAA meet in
1997 to finishing 25th in 1998, 16th in 1999, 23rd
in 2000 and 13th this season. In the WIAC, the Pointers went
from fifth in 1999 to fourth in 2000 and third this season.
UW-Stevens Point had just six seniors in eligibility among the 53
athletes on its women's outdoor roster this year.
|
