University of Tennessee Athletics
Brown, Coleman Named Regional Athletes of Year
March 04, 2016 | Track & Field
NEW ORLEANS -- Tennessee senior Felicia Brown, sophomore Christian Coleman have been named 2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field South Regional Athletes of the Year and UT assistant coach Tim Hall has been named South Regional Women's Assistant Coach of the Year, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Friday.
Brown was named the 2016 Women's Track Athlete of the Year for the South Region. She will compete in the 60 meters, 200 meters and 4x400 at next week's NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala. She earned SEC Women's Runner of the Week honors three times this season and is a 2016 SEC 200-meter and 4x400 champion. Brown won the 200 meters at SECs with a PR, SEC meet record, world-fastest time of 22.45. She ran anchor on 4x400 that clocked a UT record and the nation's 4th-fastest time at 3:30.56. Brown placed fifth at SECs in the 60 meters, running a PR 7.23 (t-5th in nation) in prelims and 7.28 in finals. Her 7.23 time in the 60 meters is tied for the fourth-fastest in Tennessee history.
Coleman was named the 2016 Men's Track Athlete of the Year for the South Region. Coleman will compete in the 60 meters, 200 meters and 4x400 at next week's NCAA Championships. He was the co-winner of Cliff Harper Award (most points at SEC Championships) and a three-time SEC Men's Runner of the Week. He also earned USTFCCCA Men's National Runner of the Week on Feb. 16. Coleman is the 2016 SEC 60-meter champ and took second place in the 200 meters and 4x400 at the league championships. His 60-meter PR 6.54 at the VT "Doc Hale" Elite Meet ranks second in the nation and second in UT history. Coleman went a perfect 5-0 in 60-meter finals. He clocked a PR 20.54 in the 200 meters at SECs, which ranks third in the nation and fourth in UT history. He ran under 21 seconds in 200m five times.
Hall coached a sprints group that will send five individual entries and a 4x400 relay (five total female sprinters) to NCAAs. The UT women posted wins in the 200m and 4x400 at SECs. UT sprinters scored 30 points over four SEC events, improving from seven points in 2015. Brown won the 200m in nation-leading, world-leading, SEC record 22.45. UT's 4x400 ran UT-record and nation's 4th fastest time of 3:30.56. Brown also ranks fifth in nation in 60m at 7.23. Hall also has four men's entries at this week's NCAAs and led the Tennessee men's sprints group to a combined for three medals at SECs (one gold, two silvers).
Tennessee will have 14 entries and 13 student-athletes competing at the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships. UT's 14 combined entries are its most since Tennessee had 21 in 2008 when it sent seven men's entries and 14 women's entries.
Each of the nine regions -- which are the same as those used during the cross country season -- honored both genders' top track athletes and field athletes, and the top men's and women's head coaches and assistant coaches.
Award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches. Only those individuals from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.
Many of the honored athletes and coaches will be in competition at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships set for next week, March 11-12, at Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
The Championships will be live on ESPN3, with a nationally broadcast tape-delayed showing on the Championships Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
