With the UCSD track and field team preparing to leave for Charlotte, N.C. for the NCAA Division II National Championships, two of the main components of the record-setting team were given prestigious honors. The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named head coach Tony Salerno the West Region Women’s Coach of the Year, and junior jumper Whitney Johnson was awarded the women’s Field Athlete of the Year.
The women’s basketball team’s dominance of Chico State in the NCAA Division II West Regional championship game was one of the biggest differences between the two schools that lifted UCSD seven points above the Wildcats to capture its second straight CCAA Commissioner’s Cup.
Salerno, who won the award for the third straight year, distributed all of his honors to his players, and praise their achievements over his own.
“”It all goes back to the athletes,”” Salerno said. “”It’s nice to win the award, but it’s the quality of the athletes on our team that makes it happen.””
Prior to this season, the Triton coaching staff thought it to be a rebuilding year, considering their team’s shallow senior class. However, the younger players stepped up throughout the season, and the youth movement culminated in 11 of the 12 women going to nationals as a junior or younger.
Salerno, who was also named the California Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the year, believes that his young team still has the necessary experience to succeed at nationals.
“”Most of our girls [seven of 12] have already been to nationals, so they are plenty experienced even though they might be a little younger than other teams,”” Salerno said.
Johnson, who also won the CCAA Most Valuable Athlete award at the conference finals on May 5, currently holds the second-best distance in the country in the triple jump, 41 feet 3.75 inches, and the fourth-longest mark in the long jump of 19 feet 5.5 inches.
The two distinctions reflect the tremendously successful 2007 season in which the Triton women set numerous school records and sent 12 players to the National Championships. The latter figure is the largest number of UCSD representatives to attend the women’s Track and Field Nationals in school history, a stat that helped the team earn second place in the Power Rankings, a national ranking system for all D-II schools.
The Tritons hope to improve upon last year’s 18th-place finish at nationals, and with a solid core of runners, jumpers and throwers, this year looks poised to go down as the greatest in the history of UCSD track and field.
Joining Johnson at nationals will be seniors Laiah Blue, Torrey Trust, juniors Amber Green, Diane Dunn, Emily McGregor, Corey Sheredy, sophomores Jillian Sola, Sarah Hendy, Katie Skorupa, and freshmen Christine Merrill and Anna Lee McGregor. These women will have their work cut out for them as they go against the top competition in the nation, but Salerno said he has faith in his athletes. He said that this upcoming year will be one of the most successful ever.
“”A top-10 finish would be amazing,”” Salerno said. “”The girls are feeling good about it now, and we’re just excited to get going. I really think that this year we have the chance to get some top finishes, especially with people like Laiah and Whitney.””
