Morris, Hiett, Earn America East Awards
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Following the conclusion of the America East Outdoor Championships, a handful of athletes are recognized for their accomplishments during the competition with championship awards. The University at Albany claimed two of these awards Sunday, with Kareem Morris winning the Men’s Coaches’ Award, and Nathan Hiett winning the Men’s Rookie Award.
Morris won the Coaches’ Award by virtue of scoring the most points of any other individual in the men’s field. His 26.5 points led all male scorers. Morris won the long jump, placed second in the 100, third in the 200, and ran the anchor leg on UAlbany’s victorious 4×100 relay. Morris also won the Men’s Coaches’ Award at Indoor Championships earlier this year, where he scored 23 points.
Nathan Hiett won the Men’s Rookie Award, due to his overall victory in the pole vault. Hiett led a sweep of the top two places in the event, clearing a height of 16’-8.75”, nearly a foot higher than runner-up, teammate Alfonso Scannapieco, who cleared 15’-9”. The pair also placed first and second at indoor championships, though at that meet the places were reversed. The mark is a personal best for Hiett, improving on his previous best by two inches. Hiett also jumps to the top of the America East outdoor leaderboard with his performance.
Rounding out the men’s awards were UMBC’s Dennison Long for Outstanding Track, Maine’s Justin Gane for Outstanding Field, and the UMBC men’s coaching staff. On the women’s side, UMBC’s Mercedes Jackson won Outstanding Track, Vermont’s Brittney St. Clair won Outstanding Field, and Binghamton’s Keishorea Armstrong won Outstanding Rookie. UMBC’s Mercedes Jackson won the Women’s Coaches’ Award, scoring 22.5 points, and Vermont won the Women’s Coaching Staff Award.
. Next on the schedule for UAlbany is the third and final home meet of the year, the UAlbany Last Chance meet, on Saturday, May 10. A week later, the team will head to Princeton University to compete at IC4A and ECAC Championships, without the seniors, who will be attending their commencement ceremony.
