REGIONAL AWARDS | PROGRAM OF THE YEAR UPDATE

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year for the 2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season and the Lee track & field teams collected six of the eight South Region honors.

Celine Ritter was the South Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year, Christian Noble was the South Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year and Liezl Theron received recognition as the South Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year. Charnay Ryland was named the South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year, while Caleb Morgan earned South Region Men's Coach of the Year and Women's Coach of the Year.

"This was a big year for us regionally," said Morgan. "We have never won six awards in one year. I am thankful for our coaching staff and athletes. The work that has been put in over the last year to get us to this point has been phenomenal."

Member coaches voted on these honors following the completion of the 2022 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas, but considered performances from that meet as well as the regular season meets.

Ritter scored 16 points at the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships with a victory in the 3000-Meter Run and a third-place effort in the 5000. She accounted for all but one of the Lady Flames' points in Pittsburg, Kansas. Earlier in the season, Ritter won the 800, mile and 3000 at the Gulf South Conference Championships.

Noble had another phenomenal indoor season, breaking the DII mile record (3:56.10) and rewriting his own DII 3000-meter record (7:50.98) at the same meet. He broke both records at the Boston University Last Chance Meet, running both events within a 90-minute window of each other. At the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships, Noble finished sixth in the 3000 and helped the Flames capture the DMR national title, running an anchor leg of 3:54.12 en route to a total team time of 9:34.51, a new DII national record. He scored 30 points at the Gulf South Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, showcasing versatility with an impressive sweep of the mile, 3000 and 5000.

Theron set Gulf South Conference records in both the pentathlon (3546 points) and high jump (1.63 meters) this season. Both of those marks came in winning efforts at the GSC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Ryland coached the Flames' sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers as the Flames won the team title at the Gulf South Conference Indoor Championships. Among the athletes she coached was Jeremiah McCain, who earned Second Team All-American honors in the 400 and ran on the Flames' distance medley relay team that won the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships in 9:34.51, the fastest DII time ever regardless of track size.

Morgan, in his ninth year at Lee, led the Flames to the team title at the GSC Championships and then an 18^th place finish at the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships.

He also led the Lady Flames to their third-straight team title at the GSC Championships with 11 event champions. Lee then went on to place 16^th at the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships and was the highest-finishing team among regional competition. Morgan's athletes tallied six First-Team All-Americans, including a national title in the 3000 from Celine Ritter. The Lady Flames had a school-record seven qualifiers for the NCAA Championships and collected six of Lee's 12 All-America honors.

Earlier this week, the USTFCCCA released in-progress reports for the Jerry Baltes Women's Program of the Year Award and the Damon Martin Men's Program of the Year Award.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Award honors the institution that has achieved the most success in each academic year (spanning the cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons) based on the institution's finish at the NCAA Championships.

In order to be eligible for the award, teams must qualify for each of the NCAA Championships. Scoring is based on the team's finish at each NCAA Championship in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field with the lowest total score for all three championships combined determining the award winner. Ties among schools split points for positions taken.

The Lady Flames are currently No. 7 in the standings with 24 points after finishing eighth at the cross country championships and 16^th at the indoor track & field championships. Grand Valley State stands atop the standings with four points and Adams State is second with 6.5 points. No other women's team from the South Region appears in the top 19.

The Flames were 17^th in cross country and 18^th at the indoor track & field championships to tally 35 points and claim No. 9 in the standings. The Flames are 1.5 points ahead of Southern Indiana, while trailing UC-Colorado Springs by five points. Grand Valley State is No. 1 with two points and Adams State is second with 11. The only other South Region program in the men's standings is Alabama Huntsville at No. 13 with 43 points.