UT'S CLARK HAULS IN FIFTH SEC COACH OF THE YEAR HONOR IN PAST FIVE
SEASONS
Tennessee Track & Field/Cross Country Skipper Has Received 13 Awards
Since 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- In only his fifth season on the job at
the University of Tennessee, women's head track & field and cross
country coach J.J. Clark today picked up the fifth Southeastern
Conference Coach of the Year award of his career. He was chosen by his
peers as the 2007 SEC Indoor Women's Track & Field Coach of the Year,
the league announced Tuesday.
Clark, who guided his Lady Volunteers to victory at the SEC
Indoor Championships in Lexington, Ky., two weekends ago and to a
third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville,
Ark., over the weekend, collected the second conference track & field
honor to go along with three cross county awards. He also earned indoor
track honors in 2005 and was chosen as the SEC Women's Cross Country
Coach of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
With this award, and his 2007 USTFCCCA South Region Women's
Indoor Coach of the Year accolade that he was accorded last week, his
total of career coach of the year awards reached 16, including 13 in his
first 4 1/2 seasons in Knoxville.
Clark's tally of personal accomplishments as UT's skipper
includes one national coach of the year award (2005), three regional
kudos (indoors in 2005 & 2007; outdoors in 2005) and two conference
honors (2005, 2007) in track & field and four regional citations
(2002-05) and three conference nods (2003-05) in cross country. During
that time, he has directed his troops to one NCAA Indoor title and four
top-five national finishes, two conference indoor championships and a
regional outdoor victory in track & field, and four regional crowns and
three SEC trophies in cross country. He also had two SEC honors
(1996-97) and one regional award (1997) as cross country coach at
Florida from 1992 to 2001 while leading the Gators to victory twice in
league (1996, 1997) and regional (1997, 1998) action.
Auburn's Kerron Stewart was named Female Runner of the Year,
while Corey Martin was named Male Field Athlete of the Year. Two Florida
freshmen were honored, as Shara Proctor was named Female Freshman Field
Athlete of the Year, and Mike Morrison was named Male Freshman Field
Athlete of the Year. Georgia's Ian Burrell was the Male Runner of the
Year, and Patricia Sylvester was the Female Field Athlete of the Year.
Latavia Thomas of LSU was named the Female Freshman Runner of the Year
and Emmanuel Bore of Alabama was named the Male Freshman Runner of the
Year. All post-season awards were determined by a vote of the
conference coaches.
In addition, Arkansas' head track coach John McDonnell was
named SEC Men's Indoor Coach of the Year after guiding the Razorbacks to
the 2007 SEC Indoor title and a seventh-place outcome nationally.
2006-07 SEC Indoor Track Postseason Awards
SEC Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year
J.J. Clark, Tennessee
SEC Men's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year
John McDonnell, Arkansas
SEC Men's Runner of the Year
Ian Burrell, Georgia
SEC Women's Runner of the Year
Kerron Stewart, Auburn
SEC Men's Field Event Athlete of the Year
Corey Martin, Auburn
SEC Women's Field Event Athlete of the Year
Patricia Sylvester, Georgia
SEC Men's Freshman Runner of the Year
Emmanuel Bore, Alabama
SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year
Latavia Thomas, LSU
SEC Men's Freshman Field Event Athlete of the Year
Mike Morrison, Florida
SEC Women's Freshman Field Event Athlete of the Year
Shara Proctor, Florida