2023 CACC Women's T&F Major Year-End Awards
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 18, 2023) – Felician University, the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference women’s outdoor track & field champion, claimed four of the five major individual postseason awards, CACC Commissioner Dan Mara announced on Thursday. The recipients earned their honors based on a vote of the league’s head coaches.
Felician sophomore Chantoya Thomas was voted the Track Athlete of the Year, and freshman teammate Imani Fitzpatrick was named the Track Rookie of the Year. Golden Falcon junior Talia Ferguson was chosen the CACC Field Athlete of the Year. Meanwhile Felician head coach Anthony Scannella won a vote of the conference sports information directors to be selected as the Women’s Track & Field Coach of the Year.
Freja Olofsson of Wilmington University captured CACC Field Rookie of the Year Honors, while Holy Family University is the recipient of the annual conference Team Sportsmanship Award
Felician won the CACC championship for the first time in women’s track & field, and broke Georgian Court University’s eight-year hold on the title. Thomas played a big role, earning four all-conference honors. She won both the 200- and 400-meter dashes and ran a leg for both Golden Falcon second-place relay teams. Both her 200 and 400 times at the league meet were the fastest by a CACC runner at any race this season.
Fitzpatrick finished second in the conference to Thomas in the 400 meters. She placed fifth in the 200 at the CACC meet as well. For the season, she owns the second-best performance (to Thomas) by a CACC runner at both distances.
Ferguson has become the first Felician track & field athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championship, doing so in the high jump. At the CACC meet, she scored in four events. Ferguson won the high jump, was second in the triple jump, fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and sixth in the long jump.
Olofsson was the conference champion in the discus throw, helping lead Wilmington to a fourth-place finish in the 12-team meet. She also scored in the hammer throw, placing fifth.
Scannella is a repeat winner of the CACC Coach of the Year Award, after also taking the honor last fall in women’s cross-country. After his women’s track & field squad placed third in the league meet a year ago, the Golden Falcons broke through for the 2023 title, scoring a meet record 231 points.
Holy Family was recognized by the league’s head coaches as the team that best demonstrated outstanding character and class during the regular season. The Tigers are coached by Dwight Brandon.
The 2023 All-CACC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field teams were determined by the first and second-place finishers, respectively, at the league championship meet. They can be viewed at https://caccathletics.org/sports/track/2022-23/releases/57ChampW.
2023 CACC WOMEN'S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Chantoya Thomas (Felician University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S TRACK ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Imani Fitzpatrick (Felician University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Talia Ferguson (Felician University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S FIELD ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Freja Olofsson (Wilmington University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD COACH OF THE YEAR
Anthony Scannella (Felician University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Holy Family University
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 13 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Alliance University, Bloomfield College, University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) University, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.