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Track and Field Coach and Standout Athlete
Honored
May 21, 2007
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Whitney Johnson was named the USTFCCCA West Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year.
(Photo / Jimmy Gekas) |
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Head coach Tony Salerno and junior standout Whitney
Johnson were honored Monday by the United States Track
& Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association
for their efforts thus far in 2007. For the third-straight
year, Salerno was honored as the West Region Women’s
Coach of the Year while Johnson was named the women’s
Field Athlete of the Year.
Salerno guided his squad to their third-straight CCAA Championship in 2007 and had 12 female student-athletes qualify in 10 different events for the NCAA D-II Outdoor Track & Field Championships this week in Charlotte, N.C.
Johnson, who was named the CCAA’s Most Valuable Athlete at the 2007 league championships in San Francisco on May 5, enters this week’s national meet with the second best mark in the country this year in the triple jump (41’ 3 ¾”) and the fourth best distance in the long jump (19’ 5 ½”). She won both of those events at the CCAA Championships earlier this month and holds the school record as well in each category.
The Tritons are currently ranked No. 2 in the USTFCCCA Power Rankings poll and are looking to improve upon last year’s 18th place national finish. The best-ever finish for the UCSD women at the Division II level came in 2005 when the program had a 14th place national finish. Salerno was named the USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year for his efforts that season.
UCSD’s best shot at garnering a first-ever individual
NCAA gold medal may rest with junior hurdler Laiah
Blue. Seeded second in the 100 hurdles and fifth in
the 400 hurdles, she will be a title threat in both,
said Salerno.
For complete coverage of the 2007 NCAA Division II
Outdoor Track & Field National Championships,
please click
here.
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