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Jones Named USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year

Emily Adlfinger 429 Views , , ,

After guiding his team to its second-straight NCAA Division III National Championship title, Loras College women’s track and field head coach Matt Jones (’05) completed the sweep for coach of the year honors after the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) honored him as the Division III Women’s Track and Field National Coach of the Year, earning the distinction for the second time in his career.

From left: Stevie Lambe (’22), Terrianna Black (’20), Matt Jones (’05), Alyssa Pfadenhaueer (’23) and Marion Edwards (’22)

In his eighth season as head coach, the Duhawks scored ten All-America awards at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Greensboro, N.C. over the weekend, including national runner-up finishes by Terrianna Black (’20) in the 100-meter dash, Alyssa Pfadenhauer (’23) in the 400-meter dash, Kassie Rosenbum (’21) in the 10,000-meter run and the 4-by-400-meter relay of Marion Edwards (’22), Stevie Lambe (’22), Elayna Bahl (’22) and Pfadenhauer. The 4-by-100-meter relay team of Black, Lambe, Pfadenhauer and Edwards defended the Duhawks’ title in record-setting fashion and helped the team to 58 total points to win the program’s second-straight national championship.

The success had been building all season for Jones and his team after the Duhawks quickly distanced themselves at the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Outdoor Championship to win with 247.50 points and put a 63.5-point gap on runner-up Wartburg College. Jones and his staff were awarded the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors while Bahl and Grace Alley (’23) were the Track and Field Most Valuable Performers, respectively. Jones was also honored as the USTFCCCA Central Region Coach of the Year for the second straight season and Black was the Central Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. The Duhawks have established seven new program bests this season and had a record 11 national qualifiers for the outdoor championship.

Jones won his first National Coach of the Year award in 2019 following Loras’ first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship title.