NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference announced its Outdoor Track & Field Awards, recognizing standout performances from the 2022 season on Wednesday afternoon. The awards were voted on by the head coach of Sun Belt Conference track & field programs.
A total of 15 Mavericks were named on the all-conference team, while
Arthur Petersen and
Jackson Cichon took home major awards. Petersen was named SBC Field Athlete of the Year, while Cichon took home Freshman of the Year.
Petersen was outstanding in the javelin en route to earning the award. He registered a mark of 75.09m (246'4") and took home his second consecutive title. Six other competitors had personal-best marks and Petersen still took the crown by nearly eight meters (25'4"). Petersen won the 2022 crown with a throw that was nearly 13 feet longer than he had as a freshman. During the season, Peterson won a pair of Sun Belt Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week accolades. Petersen is third in the nation in the javelin with a throw of 79.90.
Cichon captured Freshman of the Year honors after having a stellar season. At the SBC Championship, he earned the silver medal with a personal-best time of 1:50.71 in the 800 meter. In the event, he bested his previous top mark of 1:51.60. Chicon also competed in the 1500 meter, sporting a mark of 3:58.44 to qualify for the finals.
Along with Petersen, a total of five Maverick earned first team accolades as
Lucas Van Klaveren,
Jade Bontke,
Shelby West, and
Madeleine Rowe.
Van Klaveren repeated as champion of the decathlon, breaking the Sun Belt Conference, Meet, and Facility Record with 7,625 points, while Bontke broke her own school record in the heptathlon with 5,692 points, while also setting a new facility and meet record.
West set a new school record, meet record, and facility record in the 100-meter hurdle as she won the event with a time of 57.68, while Rowe won the 1500 meter for the second straight season with a time of 4:35.23, coming from behind with a huge kick in the final 200 meters to take the event.
Six Mavs join Cichon on the second team in
Marvin Walford,
Khalid Mendez,
Jarvis Miles,
Iyana Gray,
Tatyana Terrell, and
Vanessa Ugorji. Meanwhile,
Joel Bengtsson,
Liv Cantby, and
Simona Cabella earned third team honors.
Walford led the way with an excellent showing in the triple jump, earning silver after a massive jump of 15.37 (50-5 1/4), good for a new PR, while the 4x400 team of Cichon, Mendez, Miles, and placed second in the 4x400 with a time of 3:09.76.
Gray had an outstanding season as she set a pair of new school record in her sprinting events at the SBC Championships, going for11.22 to finish second and set a new school record in the 100 meter dash and followed that up with a bronze in the 200 meter dash with a new school mark of 23.13.
Terrell, Ugorji, West, and Bontke set a new school record with a time of 3:37.14 to place second in the 4x400.
Bengtsson finished with a bronze in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.80, while Cabella also placed third, clearing 3.72 (12-2 1/2) in the pole vault. Cantby earned a bronze in the javelin with a throw of 46.50 (152-7).
UTA will return to action in a few weeks as they head to the NCAA Championships Preliminary Round at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. The event begins May 25 and runs through May 28.
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