Four Standouts Claim 2015 CACC Women's Track & Field Major Year-End Awards
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 20, 2015) -- Four women's outdoor track & field standouts were honored by the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) on Wednesday, as the league announced its major year-end award winners for the 2015 season. The announcement was made by CACC Commissioner Dan Mara.
The four individuals to be recognized included Philadelphia University's Taylor Falvey as the CACC Women's Track Athlete of the Year, Georgian Court University's Shelby Frink as the Field Athlete of the Year, Caldwell University's Victoria Thaler as the Track Rookie of the Year, and Georgian Court's Malawi Allen as the Field Rookie of the Year.
The voting for the major awards was conducted by the league's head coaches in the sport following the conclusion of the CACC Women's Track & Field Championship on May 3 in Lakewood, N.J.
Falvey concluded her remarkable collegiate career with the conference's top athlete honor on the track after claiming victories in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the CACC Championship. She began her day with a winning time of 45:04.37 in the 10,000 meters and followed that up a short time later with another first-place mark of 19:57.82 in the 5,000. Falvey's performance at the CACC track championship came just a few short months after she finished third at the conference's cross country championship to earn All-CACC honors in that sport as well.
Frink was named the Field Athlete of the Year after she won both the shot put and hammer throw at the CACC Championship, while also placing third in the discus. Her winning marks were 47 feet, 8 inches in the shot put, and 142 feet, 9 inches in the hammer. Frink's effort in the shot at the conference meet was the 13th best mark in the nation. She also claimed victories in both the shot put and hammer at the CTC Championship earlier in the season.
Thaler was named the top female rookie on the track in 2015 after she turned in a trio of top-two finishes at the CACC meet, including serving as a member of Caldwell's victorious 4x400-meter relay team in a winning time of 4:05.27. She also earned Second-Team All-CACC honors with second-place finishes in both the 1,500 meters (5:03.41) and the 400-meter hurdles (1:08.98).
Allen earned the conference's women's field rookie award after she won the high jump in each meet she competed in this season -- minus the prestigious Penn Relays where she placed a respectable 18th out of 62 competitors. She won the CACC Championship in the event with a jump of 5 feet, 3 inches. She has the 12th best mark in the event throughout the nation this season.
Also announced on Wednesday was that Georgian Court's Michael Murawski was named the 2015 CACC Women's Track & Field Coach of the Year after he guided the Lions to their second-consecutive CACC team championship in the sport. It was a clean sweep for Murawski in 2015, as he was also named the inaugural winner of the men's coach-of-the-year award earlier in the day.
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician College, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Philadelphia University, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.