FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Just hours before the start of the 206 NCAA West First Rounds, Tarleton State Track and Field added more awards to its trophy case this season. Head coach Bobby Carter was named WAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year and
Emma Holmes earned the nod as the WAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year, the conference office announced on Tuesday afternoon.
The Texans keep growing to their awards collection with the pair of end of the year award winners. Carter picks up his second WAC Coach of the Year title after earning his first during the indoor campaign on the women's side. Holmes is the second-consecutive freshman to win WAC Outdoor Female Freshman of the Year, joining
Prestina Ochonogor from last season. Carter also took home the South Central Region USTFCCCA Women's Coach of the Year last indoor season as well.
The pair of awards adds to the three Texan WAC awards during the indoor season.
Jalen Cadet was named the Men's Athlete of the Year,
Victoria Cameron was tabbed the Female Athlete of the Year and
JayBrion Jones was selected the Freshman of the Year. Tarleton State also tallied a plethora of WAC Athlete of the Week Awards totaling 19 in both indoor and outdoor, with 12 coming in the outdoor campaign.
Head coach Bobby Carter brought the first men's WAC conference title in Tarleton State's program history back to Stephenville a few weeks ago. It marks the first men's conference title at the NCAA level after an abundance of TIAA titles at the NAIA level. At the outdoor championships, the men recorded eight gold medals, a new program outdoor record.
David Mvundura earned WAC Men's Track Performer of the Meet scoring 18.5 points, and
Sir Jonathan Sims took home the Field Performer of the Meet scoring 18 points. The Texan men won their first conference title by 23 points, scoring a program record 200 total points.
Carter's men's squad sent seven individuals to compete at the NCAA West First Rounds. He has a pair of athletes that will be each competing in two events. Throughout the season, the men broke three school records including
Ca'terrin Cox breaking the 110-meter hurdles record that stood since 2006.
Jacob Thomas also broke the pole vault record multiple times this season and Jones set the school record in the 100 meters with a top 15 time in the NCAA West this season in 10.10 seconds. The men also earned a WAC Weekly Award selection seven times during the outdoor campaign. Carter adds to his coach of the year collection after picking up the Women's WAC Coach of the Year and the USTFCCCA Women's Region Coach of the Year last indoor season.
Holmes has been a dominant force on the track as a sprint athlete in her first outdoor season as a Texan. In her first WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship, she accounted for 20.5 points, the fourth most among women and most out of all freshmen. She tallied a pair of gold medals as well as a silver medal. She notched her first gold medal running the anchor leg on the 4x100 meter relay. She helped the squad clock in at 44.48 seconds, a full second ahead of the rest of the field. The freshman picked up her second gold medal of the day in the 400 meters, crossing in 53.21 seconds to win by over two full seconds. She ended her day earning a silver medal and punching her ticket to the NCAA West First Rounds placing second in the 200 in 23.18 seconds.
The Manchester, United Kingdom, native, broke the school record twice this season and owns the top four al-time times in outdoor program history in the 400 meters. She first became the first Texan woman to run a sub 54-second 400 meters clocking in at 53.69 seconds at the Michael Johnson Invitational. She then became the first Texan to break the 53-second barrier winning the 400 meters and setting the facility record at the SMU Invitational in 52.92 seconds. She punched a pair of tickets to the NCAA West First Rounds in both the 200 and 400 meters. Holmes enters ranked 29th in the west in the 200 meters and 45th in the 400.
The Texans will continue its postseason run at the NCAA West First Rounds in Fayetteville, Ark. starting on Wednesday at John McDonnell Field. The Texans have a record-breaking 15 athletes set to compete, looking to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships in Eugen, Ore. on June 10-13.
