NEW ORLEANS – Illinois State Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, Jeff Bovee, earned his fourth-career U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Region Coach of the Year Award as announced by the USTFCCCA on Friday.
Bovee, who is currently in his seventh season as the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, earned the USTFCCCA Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year Award after the Redbirds won their third-straight outdoor Missouri Valley Conference title and broke a conference record with 232 points. During Bovee's tenure, Illinois State's women's track & field team has won seven-consecutive MVC titles through indoor and outdoor.
ISU's women's team posted a dominant performance at this year's MVC Outdoor Championships, breaking the conference record and besting the second-place team by 89 points. The 'Birds had five individual MVC titles from four student-athletes and one relay title in the 4x400-meter relay. Additionally, 30 of the 32 women on the conference roster scored points toward the team score and Illinois State had 18 individual All-Valley performances and both relays earn All-Valley honors on the women's side at the 2021 MVC Outdoor Championship meet.
Bovee, who was selected as the MVC Coach of the Year three times this year after ISU won the men's cross country title, the women's indoor track & field title and the women's outdoor track & field title, has now earned the title of USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year four times in his career, including three times in the last four years. He won the award in 2016 when the ISU women won their first MVC title since 1997, in 2018 when the men won their first Valley Championship since 1999 and in 2020 when the women set a new Valley record at the indoor championship with 190.16 points. This marks his first time earning the award during the outdoor season.
He has led the women's and men's track & field programs to a combined seven indoor conference titles and three outdoor conference titles since taking over at the start of the 2014-15 season. Bovee also has led the cross country program to three team titles.
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