BATON ROUGE – For the fifth time during his nearly seven-year tenure as head coach of the national champion LSU track and field program, Dennis Shaver has been selected as the Southeastern Conference Women’s Coach of the Year with the release of the league’s 2011 indoor honors on Monday afternoon.
Shaver has been named the SEC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year on two occasions in 2008 and 2011, while he has also been selected the SEC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year three times in the last four seasons in 2007, 2008 and 2010 in leading the SEC’s premier program.
This comes on the heels of Monday’s announcement of Shaver being chosen as the South Central Region Women’s Indoor Head Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
Just over one week ago, Shaver coached the Lady Tigers to the their 23rd SEC team championship in team history with their victory at the 2011 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships held in Fayetteville, Ark. LSU scored 135 points for the meet to win its league-leading 12th SEC Indoor title by a decisive margin at 17 points over the homestanding Arkansas Razorbacks.
Shaver personally coached nine Lady Tigers to All-SEC accolades in the sprint and hurdles with either an all-conference first-place or second-place finish in their respective events. That includes 2011 SEC Indoor champions Kimberlyn Duncan in the 200-meter dash and Jasmin Stowers in the 60-meter hurdles.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers are ranked No. 2 in the country by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as they prepare to compete this week for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
2011 SEC Indoor Coach & Athlete of the Year Awards
Men’s Indoor Runner of the Year
Kirani James, Alabama
Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
Christian Taylor, Florida
Men’s Freshman Indoor Runner of the Year
Eddie Lovett, Florida
Men’s Freshman Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
Stephen Saenz, Auburn
Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year
Mike Holloway, Florida
Women’s Indoor Runner of the Year
Jackie Areson, Tennessee
Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
Tina Sutej, Arkansas
Women’s Freshman Indoor Runner of the Year
Cory McGee, Florida
Women’s Freshman Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
Fabia McDonald, Ole Miss
Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year
Dennis Shaver, LSU