NEW ORLEANS – Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year for the 2024 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season were announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Among those honored, the Gulf South Conference swept the four categories on the men’s side as Lee's Cale Kassen was named South Region Track and Field Athlete of the Year, while Flames' head coach Caleb Morgan took home Coach of the Year. Lee’s Lane Fletcher meanwhile was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
On the women’s two GSC representatives were honored as the Mississippi College sprinter McKenna Cavanaugh was named South Region Track Athlete of the Year. Alabama Huntsville assistant head coach Scott Byrd was tabbed as the Assistant Coach of the Year.
USTFCCCA ITF REGIONAL AWARDS
Award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches following the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. Performances from both the NCAA Championships and the regular season were considered. Only those individuals from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.
Each of the eight regions – Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West – honored both gender’s top track athletes and field athletes as well as the top men’s and women’s head coaches and assistant coaches.
USTFCCCA ITF ALL-REGION AWARDS
The national association also previously announced all-region honorees. In that announcement, the Gulf South hauled in a total of 150 awards with at least one awardee from each indoor track & field sponsoring institution. The top-five individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region distinction, in addition to each member of the region’s top-3 relay teams. The regions used for this award – Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West – match those used during the cross country season.
Kassen, who hails from Valley View, Texas, earned First-Team All-America honors in both the 60-meter Hurdles and Heptathlon at the 2024 NCAA DII Indoor Championships. He won the heptathlon with 5,801 points and went 7.82 in the 60-meter hurdles for third place. During the regular season, he won the 60-meter hurdles and the high jump at the Gulf South Conference Indoor Championships and was named the Men’s Most Outstanding Overall Performer and Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
Morgan, in his 12th year as Director of Track & Field at Lee (Tenn.), led the Flames to the team title at the Gulf South Conference Indoor Championships, winning six events. Lee had a program-record 19 NCAA DII provisional marks this year and had three All-America honorees led by Cale Kassen, who won the heptathlon with a DII record of 5801 points.
Fletcher, in his second year as Associate Head Coach at Lee (Tenn.), coached the Flames’ Cale Kassen to win the heptathlon at the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships, scoring a DII-record 5801 points. Fletcher also clocked 7.71 in the 60-meter hurdles, the fastest DII time this year and the fastest by any collegian ever in a heptathlon. Fletcher also helped Kassen earn a bronze medal in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Cavanaugh, who hails from New Albany, Indiana, scored 22.5 points at the 2024 Gulf South Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. She won individual titles in the mile and 3000 meters and ran a leg on the winning distance medley relay. That same foursome later finished fifth at the 2024 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships in a new program record.
Byrd, in his second year as Associate Head Coach at Alabama-Huntsville, coached the Chargers’ sprinters to a dynamic performance at the 2024 Gulf South Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. UAH sprinters went 1-3-5-6 in the 60 meters, 1-3-6 in the 200 meters, 1-5 in the 400 meters, and won the 4×400 relay. Freshman stood out for the Chargers at the GSC Indoor Championships, namely Amiah Murry, who won the 400-meter crown.