Spartans Sweep Cross Country Awards as Jessica Forrester Makes UT History
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Jarrett Slaven was named the NCAA Division II South Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second straight season as Jessica Forrester became the first runner in UT history to earn South Region Female Runner of the Year.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced the regional award-winners. The USTFCCCA names the Division II athletes and coaches of the year for eight regions across the country.
Each of the regional honorees will either be running or coaching at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, to be held Nov. 22 in Slippery Rock, Pa.
Forrester became the first Tampa runner, male or female, to win a regional individual championship. She claimed the South title by 36 seconds. Her season includes victories in the Sunshine State Conference and UT Early Bird Classic. Forrester is a junior from Brandon, Fla., and graduate of Wharton High School.
Slaven's ninth season at Tampa resulted in South Region and Sunshine Coast Conference championships. The women's regional title was Slaven's third in five years, as he coached Forrester to the program's first-ever regional individual crown. The eighth-ranked Spartans finished 10th at last year's NCAA Cross Country Championships.