BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Three of the six postseason OVC Indoor Track and Field awards were shared this year and three schools had two winners each, highlighting one of the most balanced fields in OVC history.
The Female Track Athlete of the Year award was split between Chandra Golden of Eastern Illinois and Diamond Benjamin of Eastern Kentucky. The Female Freshman of the Year award was split between Austin Peay's Leigha Tolliver and Eastern Kentucky's Picoty Leitich while Male Freshman of the Year accolades went to Soufiane Bouchikhi of Eastern Kentucky and Tyler Mullen of Southeast Missouri. Female Field Athlete of the Year went to Carrie Burggraf of Austin Peay, while Male Track Athlete of the Year went to Eastern Illinois' Darren Patterson. Rounding out the awards is Southeast Missouri's Josh Uchtman, a repeat winner from last year, who was again honored as Male Field Athlete of the Year.
The awards were announced Thursday as voted on by conference coaches and precede the 2010 OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships that will be held at the Gentry Center on Tennessee State's campus February 26-27 in Nashville, Tenn.
Golden, a senior sprinter, was an OVC Track Athlete of the Week Jan. 12 and has the conference best time in the 60-meter hurdle recording an 8 seconds flat and also has the fourth best time in the OVC in the 60-meter dash. Benjamin, a sophomore sprinter, is also a past Female Track Athlete of the Week honoree winning it Feb. 9. She has the best time in the OVC in the 55-meter dash recording a 7.03 seconds and the third best time in the 200 meters with a time of 25.30. Last year Benjamin was named Female Track Freshman of the Year and won the 60m at the 2009 OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships with a meet-record time of 7.55.
Tolliver, a jumper and hurdler from Indianapolis, has the top OVC distance in the long jump with a 19'8" and the fourth best distance in conference in the triple jump at 37'10.5". Leitich, a middle distance runner, has two top-five times in conference. The Bomet, Kenya native sits in second in the mile (5:03.84) and fourth in the 800 (2:15.78).
Bouchikhi, of Antwerp Belgium, won the mile in his first ever college race with a time of 4:1.20, which is second best in the OVC. Mullen, out of St. Peters, Mo., is a distance runner that is second on the OVC best list in the 5,000-meters with a time of 15:18.26.
A senior pole vaulter out of Marion, Ohio, Burggraf is tied for first on the OVC best list. Her 13'1.5" jump on Jan. 22 is an NCAA provisional mark. Last year she won the pole vault at the OVC Indoor Championships and set a new mark in the APSU record books with a 3.80 meters.
Patterson has been named Male Field Athlete of the Week three times this season Jan. 12, 26 and Feb. 16. The junior sprinter from Waukegan, Ill., has the conference best time in both the 200 and 400-meter runs.
SEMO's Uchtman has had a school record breaking season, throwing a conference best and school record 60'-8.00" in the shot put during the season that qualifies him provisionally for the NCAA Championships. He also has the third best distance in the weight throw at 63' 5". Last year Uchtman won the Shot Put at the OVC Indoor Championships.
