BATON ROUGE -- The LSU track and field teams have dominated the competition during the indoor season and have been honored for their performance by the Southeastern Conference as the league office released its postseason awards Tuesday.
Sophomore John Kosgei and senior Kelly Baptiste have swept this year’s SEC Male and Female Indoor Runner of the Year honors, while head coach Dennis Shaver has been named the SEC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year for the first time in his tenure at LSU.
Kosgei quickly established himself as one of the premier distance runners in all of collegiate track and field in just his first season at LSU as he was awarded the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy at the SEC Indoor Championships as the top individual point scorer in the men’s competition.
Kosgei won a pair of SEC indoor titles as he led the Tigers to a runner-up finish at the conference meet, which is their best team finish since the 2001 season.
After becoming the first LSU athlete to win the SEC indoor title in the 3,000 meters on March 1, Kosgei became just the second Tiger in program history to break the four-minute mile en route to winning the SEC indoor title on March 2 with a winning time of 3 minutes, 59.85 seconds. He is the first to win the indoor mile since LSU great Passmore Furusa won gold in 1994.
The native of Eldoret, Kenya, is set to make his first career appearance in the 3,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend after setting a new school record in the event with a time of 7:55.49 in his collegiate debut at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 8.
Baptiste has enjoyed a record-setting indoor season of her own as she won her first SEC title in the 60-meter dash after crossing the finish line with a new school record of 7.13 in the final.
Baptiste, who became LSU’s first SEC champion in the 60 meters since former Lady Tiger great Muna Lee accomplished the feat in 2004, broke the previous record of 7.15 set by Lee during the indoor season in 2003. Baptiste’s new personal best time of 7.13 is also a meet record for the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The native of Plymouth, Scarborough, Trinidad, is among the favorites to win an NCAA title in the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend. She was also named the South Central Region Female Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA on Monday.
Shaver has been named the SEC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year for the first time in his four-year tenure as the head coach at LSU after earning SEC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year honors for the first time a season ago.
He coached the Lady Tigers to their first SEC indoor title since 1999 as the squad ended a nine-year drought in dominating fashion at the 2008 SEC Indoor Championships two weeks ago.
The Lady Tigers racked up 133 points in the two-day meet to finish 17 points clear of runner-up Tennessee in the team standings. The LSU women have now won two straight SEC titles as they are also the reigning SEC outdoor champions following a dominating victory in 2007.
The 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are set to get underway Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., as the both Tigers and Lady Tigers are looking to win their first NCAA indoor championship since sweeping the men’s and women’s titles in 2004. Arkansas is playing host to the event for the ninth straight season.
2008 SEC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD AWARDS
Female Runner of the Year: Kelly Baptiste, LSU
Male Runner of the Year: John Kosgei, LSU
Female Field Athlete of the Year: Brittney Reese, Ole Miss
Male Field Athlete of the Year: Jangy Addy, Tennessee
Female Freshman Runner of the Year: Jeneba Tarmoh, Tennessee
Male Freshman Runner of the Year: Chris Bilbrew, Arkansas
Female Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Annie Alexander, Tennessee
Male Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Derrick Locke, Kentucky
Female Coach of the Year: Dennis Shaver, LSU
Male Coach of the Year: John McDonnell, Arkansas