FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

USTFCCCA National Award Winners

June 3, 2011-- The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association announced its national award winners for the 2011 outdoor track & field season on Friday with North Central College's Mahesh Narayanan earning women's Assistant Coach of the Year honors.

Narayanan, the primary coach for the team's distance and mid-distance runners, helped the Cardinals earn eight provisional qualifying marks during the outdoor season with four qualifiers making the NCAA Division III National Championships.

At the Outdoor Championships, distance runner Amanda Laesch finished third in the 5,000-meters and fourth in the 10,000-meters, guiding the Cardinals to a seventh place finish, the team's best finish at the outdoor championships since the 1997 season.

Narayanan's distance crew additionally tallied 60 of the team's 236 points en route to the 2011 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin team championship, helping North Central earn a clean sweep of the cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field conference crowns.

This is not the first honor for Narayanan by the USTFCCCA, earning Midwest Region Head Coach of the Year honors for cross country during the 2006 season while earning USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors on May 24.