BURNSVILLE, MN – University of Mary women's track and field was well-represented in the NSIC Outdoor Track and Field postseason awards, winning four of the six honors.
Kelescia Downes was named the NSIC Women's Athlete of the Year after scoring 22 points at the conference Championships. The sophomore won her first individual title in the 200m, then finished as the All-NSIC runner-up in the 400m. Downes was also a member of the runner-up All-NSIC 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.
With
Kristine Kalthoff winning NSIC Indoor Women's Athlete of the Year, Downes solidifies a UMary sweep in the category for the year.
Siena Lambert made a big impact in her first season at UMary after transferring from Texas State University, winning NSIC Women's Newcomer of the Year. With a third-place finish in the Hammer Throw at the NSIC Championships, Lambert became the first non-Javelin women's thrower to ever score points at the conference championships for the Marauders.
Lambert is the first UMary winner of the Newcomer award since 2019.
Cale Korbelik was named the NSIC Women's Coach of the Year after a big weekend at the conference championships. The Marauders scored 161 points to place 2
nd, the most points for UMary at the conference meet since 2021. In total, the Marauders had six individual champions, six additional All-NSIC finishers, and two All-NSIC relay teams.
This is the first time Korbelik has been named Coach of the Year and the first winner for UMary since 2021.
Leading a strong performance from UMary's distance runners,
Chris Lessard was named the NSIC Women's Assistant Coach of the Year. As a whole, the Marauders earned 55 team points in distance events. Individual titles were earned by
Amber Rosemeier (800m),
Kristine Kalthoff (5000m), and
Faith Jepchumba (10000m).
The NSIC has been naming an Assistant Coach of the Year since 2019, and Lessard is the first UMary winner of the award since 2020.
The Marauders will be sending eight athletes to Kansas next week for the NCAA Championships from May 21 to 23.
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