Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Nova Sweeps Regional Athlete & Coach of the Year Awards

As might be expected when the program executes a double-triple (team championship + individual champion + individual runner-up for both men and women) at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, Villanova today swept the USTFCCCA awards for regional Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Division I Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year Announced

By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA

Mid-Atlantic

Marcus O’Sullivan, Villanova
After lying low from major competitions for much of the season, O’Sullivan’s Wildcats pounced on the post-season competition with Big East and Mid-Atlantic Region titles. In his 16th season as the head coach of the men’s program, O’Sullivan guided freshman Patrick Tiernan to individual titles at both meets as the Wildcats won the Mid-Atlantic over Princton, 34-60, and the Big East over Providence, 36-49.
Year
Men
2012
Patrick Henner, Georgetown
2011
Patrick Henner, Georgetown
2010
Steve Dolan, Princeton
2009
Patrick Henner, Georgetown
2008
Patrick Henner, Georgetown

Mid-Atlantic

Gina Procaccio, Villanova
Procaccio, in her 14th season as the head coach of the women’s program at Villanova, guided her Wildcats to arguably the biggest upset of the regional championships weekend as they defeated No. 4 Georgetown, 31-35, for the Mid-Atlantic title. Winner Emily Lipari and runner-up Nicky Akande led four finishers in the top eight as the previously unranked Wildcats took the team title. Her squad finished fourth at the Big East Championships.
Year
Women
2012
Beth Alford-Sullivan, Penn State
2011
Gina Procaccio, Villanova
2010
Gina Procaccio, Villanova
2009
Gina Procaccio, Villanova
2008
Sean Cleary, West Virginia

Mid-Atlantic

Patrick Tiernan, Villanova
Tiernan, a freshman from Toowoomba, Australia, continued a strong 2013 campaign with a Mid-Atlantic Region title, completing the 10K course at Lehigh in 29:36.90. His time was just over six seconds faster than runner-up teammate Sam McEntee, leading the Wildcats to the team title and an NCAA Championships berth. The individual crown came on the heels of a Big East title and is his third of the season.
Year
Recent Winners
2012
Travis Mahoney, Temple
2011
Donn Cabral, Princeton
2010
Ayalew Taye, Georgetown
2009
Andrew Bumbalough, Georgetwon
2008
Andrew Bumbalough, Georgetown

Mid-Atlantic

Emily Lipari, Villanova
Lipari, a senior from Greenvale, N.Y., defeated defending champion — and now-teammate — Nicky Akande by .05 seconds to claim the Mid-Atlantic Region title. She completed the 6K course at Lehigh in 19:52.65, leading the Wildcats to an upset of No. 4 Georgetown for the team title, 31-35. This was her second win of the year, and she finished runner-up at the Big East Championships. She also posted top-10 showings at both the Paul Short Run and the Pre-National Invitational.
Year
Recent Winners
2012
Nicky Akande, Villanova
2011
Sheila Reid, Villanova
2010
Sheila Reid, Villanova
2009
Sheila Reid, Villanova
2008
Francis Koons, Villanova

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