NEW ORLEANS, LA - All Region honors for the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field season were announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) following the conclusion of the regular season. Top-5 individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region honors, in addition to each of the members of a top-3 ranked relay team. 

The University of Mary Track & Field teams received solid representation in the central region with four total athletes earning USTFCCCA All-Region honors in Raheem Taitt-Best, Arianna Passeri, Sakena Massiah, and Morgan Hertz. 

Raheem Taitt-Best is the lone male Marauder to make the USTFCCCA central All-Region team for the 400-meter dash. The freshman from Bridgetown, Barbados ranks 18th in the nation for the 400 after burning a school and conference record in 46.94 seconds. This time earned Taitt-Best another NCAA provisional qualifying mark and the NSIC Championship for the event. 

Arianna Passeri earns USTFCCCA central All-Region honors for the long jump. The senior from Rosemount, MN ranks 11th in the nation with her best leap of the outdoor season reaching 6.11 meters (20.05 feet) from the Pacific Coast Invitational 2023 on April 13. Passeri is coming off a long jump title win last week at the NSIC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the first time she accomplished this in her illustrious career. 

Sakena Massiah earns USTFCCCA central All-Region honors for the 200-meter dash. The sophomore from Bridgetown, Barbados ranks 20th in the nation with her best time of 23.74 seconds coming at the NDSU Tune-Up earlier this month. In her last performance of the season, Massiah earned All-NSIC status with a runner-up finish in the 400-meter dash at the NSIC Championships with a personal-best time of 54.92 seconds. She also claimed 5th in the 200 with a time of 24.14 seconds. 

Morgan Hertz earns USTFCCCA central All-Region honors for the 400-meter hurdles. The junior from Mott, ND ranks 11th nationally in the event with her career best time (59.65 seconds) earning her the conference title last week at the NSIC Championships. The NCAA provisional qualifying effort missed Julia Hammerschmidt's UMary school record by .02 seconds. 

Taitt-Best, Passeri, and Hertz will look to make more history for the UMary Track & Field program as the trio of conference champions will compete at the NCAA DII Championships May 25-27 in Pueblo, CO. 

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