Schultz, Rovelto and Watson Earn USTFCCCA Midwest Region Honors

EUGENE, Ore. – With the Kansas State track and field team wrapping up its season this week at the NCAA Championships, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto (Women’s Coach of the Year), assistant coach Greg Watson (Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year) and freshman Nina Schultz (Women’s Field Athlete of the Year) were recognized for their outstanding seasons by earning USTFCCCA Midwest Region awards, the national track organization announced on Sunday.

Rovelto has now been recognized as the Midwest Region Women’s Coach of the Year eight times in his career, while both Schultz and Watson are earning their respective honors for the first time.

Receiving his first Women’s Coach of the Year recognition since 2015, Rovelto guided the now 10th-ranked women’s side to an upset victory over Texas with a program-best 133 points to claim the Wildcats’ third outdoor Big 12 title. He will lead the program into the NCAA Championships with a total of nine entries on the women’s side as well as the women’s 4x100-meter relay. The relay squad is the first in school history to qualify for the season-ending competition.

Coaching in his fourth season at K-State, Watson was honored by the track and field organization after he guided his athletes to dominant performances throughout the season. He led Shadae Lawrence (discus) and Janee' Kassanavoid (hammer throw) to Big 12 Outdoor titles in May to help the team earn the Big 12 crown. Over the course of that meet, the women’s throwers combined for 35 of the team’s overall 133 points.

Under Watson’s tutelage, Lawrence recorded her Big 12-winning mark of 62.59m/205-04 to break the school, Big 12 meet and Rock Chalk Park records. It was also the 10th-farthest throw in Division I history and the Jamaican National Record. Kassanavoid also flourished this season, shattering the school record at the Texas Invitational with a toss of 66.97m/219-08.

Schultz helped lead the women’s team to its first Big 12 title since 2002 with an individual title of her own in women’s high jump with a personal-best effort of 1.82m/5-11.50. Over the course of the weekend, Schultz also recorded a personal best in the javelin throw (47.67m/156-05) and posted solid performances in the long jump (6.41m/21-00.50 (3.3)), 100-meter hurdles (13.40 (3.5)) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:36.94) to earn High Point Scorer of the Meet honors after accumulating 25 points.

Earlier in the season, the freshman broke the Canadian U20 national record and won her first collegiate heptathlon at the Jim Click Combined Events. Her score of 6,021 points is the fourth-best point total in team history and is currently the fourth-best heptathlon score in Division I.

K-State’s final competition of the 2016-17 season will be the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon at historic Hayward Field on June 7-10. More information on the meet, including ticket information and a complete schedule, can be found at the meet’s homepage here.

For the latest on K-State track and field follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.

Kansas State University Athletics

Schultz, Rovelto and Watson Earn USTFCCCA Midwest Region Honors

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