NEW ORLEANS – After leading the Redbird men to their first Missouri Valley Conference title since 1999, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee and Associate Head Coach Brenton Emanuel have earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional honors, the organization announced Monday.
Bovee was named the Men's Head Coach of the Year and Emanuel was deemed the Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for the Midwest Region. This marks the first time that each of these coaches have received this honor.
With Bovee at the helm of the program, he led the No. 28 nationally-ranked Illinois State men to a dominating performance at the 2018 MVC Indoor Championships, as the Redbirds (182 points) bested second-place Indiana State (112 points) by 70 points!
This impressive performance was largely in part to the eight individual MVC titles and 16 All-Valley performances that commenced during the two-day championship meet. In addition, three ISU school records fell and two MVC Meet Records were set at the Valley meet. This totals five ISU school records and 19 ISU all-time top-10 performances that were captured over the course of the 2018 indoor season.
Emanuel, who primarily coaches the sprint, hurdle, and relay groups, played a vital role in the Redbirds' overall success. At the MVC Championships, Emanuel's squad scored 77.50 of ISU's 182 points. His athletes accounted for two of the three broken school records, five of the eight individual MVC titles, and both broken MVC Meet Records.
Even more impressive, Emanuel's student-athletes swept every sprints and hurdles event at the Valley Championships, including the 60-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 4x400-meter relay, and 60-meter hurdles. By the end of the weekend, Emanuel coached his 'Birds to eight All-MVC performances.
Bovee and Emanuel also helped Anderson Devonish win the MVC's Most Valuable Athlete Award, guided Jaylan McConico to the Valley's Most Outstanding Track Athlete honors, and coached J.D. LaFayette to his second MVC indoor 800-meter title, which resulted in him being the Elite 17 recipient for the second time of his career.
Devonish received his award after scoring the most points (22.50) of any male at the Valley championships, winning the 200-meter, 400-meter, and 4x400-meter relay. McConico captured his honors after winning the 60-meter hurdles with an ISU school record, MVC meet record, and NCAA qualifying time of 7.64. His time ranks third in the nation heading into this weekend's NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.
McConico is just one of three Redbird student-athletes that, as a result of Bovee's and Emanuel's guidance, will be competing at the NCAA Championships. In addition to McConico, freshman hurdler Kentre Patterson also qualified for the national meet after being named the MVC runner-up with a time of 7.75. With this mark, he is seeded 12th in the country. This duo of hurdlers is a large reason why Illinois State's hurdles squad ranks second in the country, according to the USTFCCCA's National Event Squad Rankings.
Derrius Rodgers is the final 'Bird that will be in action at this weekend's NCAA Championships, qualifying in the 60-meter dash for the second consecutive year. A 2017 NCAA Indoor Second-Team All-American, the eventual 2018 MVC Indoor 60-meter Champion ran a 6.60 during the preliminary round of the Valley meet to punch his ticket to NCAAs. His time, which ranks sixth in the nation, is an ISU school record and MVC meet record.
McConico, Patterson, and Rodgers will compete on the NCAA's biggest stage at the Division I Indoor Championships on March 9-10 in College Station, Texas.
To view the full list of USTFCCCA Regional Award recipients, visit ustfccca.org.
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