JONESBORO, Ark. (3/5/20) – After leading Arkansas State to its first sweep of the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships since 1998 and the first in league history since 2010, Head Coach Jim Patchell followed suit by sweeping the Men's and Women's Coach of the Year honors.
The end-of-season awards are voted on by the league's head coaches. Thursday's honor marks the eighth and ninth SBC Coach of the Year honors for Patchell. It marks the third coach of the year award for A-State in the 2019-20 cross country/track and field calendar with Jesse Duvall being named the Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after guiding the Red Wolves to a conference title in November.
A combined 24 Red Wolves earned All-Sun Belt honors based on their highest podium finish at the championships (13 men, 11 women). Six A-State men earned first-team honors, with five being tabbed second team and two third-team honorees.
On the women's side, three athletes earned first-team laurels by capturing gold in their events, including high-point scorer Camryn Newton-Smith, who won both the pentathlon and 60m hurdles. Seven Red Wolves were named to the second team while Callie Hicks was the lone third-teamer after earning bronze in the pole vault.
While most of the team is gearing up for outdoor season beginning later this month, Newton-Smith is set to represent A-State in the pentathlon at the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 13-14 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Sun Belt champion and school-record holder is the lone athlete from the conference (men/women combined) and finished the year as one of the top 16 in the NCAA in the event.
For the latest on the A-State track and field program, follow @AStateTrack on Twitter and @Arkansas_State_Track on Instagram, while also liking the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateTrackAndField.
A-State On The 2020 Indoor Track & Field All-Sun Belt Teams
MEN (13)
First Team (6)
Kobey Hill
Handre Jonker
Darrian Lockett
Bennett Pascoe
Jermie Walker
Seth Waters
Second Team (5)
Garrett Becker
Eron Carter
K'Den Johnson
Alejandro Vargas
Coleman Wilson
Third Team (2)
Amari James
Carter Shell
WOMEN (11)
First Team (3)
Lauren Beauchamp
Pauline Meyer
Camryn Newton-Smith
Second Team (7)
Sammy Brainard
Grace Flowers
Evangelynn Harris
Kyndall Hudson
Sydney Lane
Elizabeth Martin
Kayla Wade
Third Team (1)
Callie Hicks
