BATON ROUGE — Head coach Dennis Shaver and seniors Richard Thompson and Kelly Baptiste were honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday as the organization released its postseason regional awards.
Shaver was named the Co-Women’s Head Coach of the Year for the South Central Region, while Thompson was named the Co-Men’s Track Athlete of the Year and Baptiste was honored as the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year for the region.
This marks the second-straight season that Shaver has been named the Women’s Head Coach of the Year for the South Central Region as chosen by the USTFCCCA.
The Lady Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the country heading into this week’s NCAA Championships after sweeping team titles at the SEC Outdoor Championships and NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in recent weeks. The squad has qualified a total of 14 individuals and two relays into the NCAA meet for a total of 19 scoring opportunities under Shaver’s guidance.
Thompson adds to his already impressive resume after also being named the SEC Male Indoor and Outdoor Runner of the Year for the 2008 season.
The native of Cascade, Trinidad, has been one of the stars of the outdoor season in men’s college track and field as he has swept 100-meter and 200-meter titles at both the SEC Outdoor Championships and NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.
His career best and school-record time of 9.93 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the SEC meet on May 18 is the second-fastest time in the history of collegiate track and field, and is only one one-hundredth of a second off the collegiate record of 9.92 set by UCLA great and fellow Trinidadian Ato Bolden at the NCAA Championships in 1996.
Thompson enters the NCAA Championships as the nation’s top-ranked sprinter in the 100 meters and the No. 2 ranked sprinter in the 200 meters with a seasonal best time of 20.18, while he also runs the second leg on the Tigers’ NCAA leading 4×100-meter relay with a top time of 38.67.
Like Thompson, Baptiste also adds to her already impressive resume that includes being named the SEC Female Indoor and Outdoor Runner of the Year for the 2008 season.
She is the reigning 100-meter champion at both the SEC Championships and NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, while she also boasts the 200-meter title at the regional meet. Baptiste also earned All-SEC honors in the 200-meter dash with a second-place finish in the event at the conference meet on May 18.
Baptiste currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA with a seasonal best wind-aided time of 10.97 in the 100 meters, while she ranks No. 4 in the country with a career best time of 22.67 in the 200 meters. In addition, she also runs the anchor leg on the Lady Tigers’ national leading 4×100 relay that has clocked the third-fastest time in collegiate history at 42.59.