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Pac-12 announces track and field honors

May 18, 2016
Pac-12 Conference

Cunliffe, Allen Earn Track Athlete of the Year Honors
Iuel, Tonnesen Earn Field Athlete of the Year Honors
Washington, Maton named Freshmen of the Year
Metcalf, Washington named Coaches of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO -- OREGON sprinters Hannah Cunliffe and Devon Allen were voted the Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Track Athletes of the Year, while ARIZONA’s Pau Tonnesen and USC’s Amalie Iuel were tabbed the Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Field Athletes of the Year, the Conference office announced today. Meanwhile, the Ducks’ Ariana Washington and Matthew Maton were selected the Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Freshmen of the Year. In addition, UO’s Robert Johnson was picked the Pac-12 Women’s Coach of the Year and WASHINGTON’s Greg Metcalf was voted the Pac-12 Men’s Coach of the Year.

Devon Allen and Hannah Cunliffe helped the Ducks win the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships over the weekend, as Oregon swept the men’s and women’s titles for the eight year in a row. Both earned Pac-12 Athlete of the Meet honors after tallying the most individual points in the meet.

Allen was responsible for 27.5 of Oregon’s 155.60 points of the meet, winning the 110-meter hurdles for the first time in his career. He clocked the fastest time in the country in the event this season, setting the meet record in the preliminary round with 13.32 seconds. He also won his first title in the 200-meter race, placed third in the 100-meters and helped the Ducks finish third in the 4x100-meter relay. Back on the track this year after missing last season due to injury, Allen was also named Pac-12 Track Athlete of the Week twice this season. Allen is the first Duck to win the men’s track honor since 2010. He was the Pac-12 Men’s Freshman of the Year in 2014.

Cunliffe tallied 22.5 points at the Pac-12 Championships, winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Her time in the 200-meter race was a record-setter, breaking the Pac-12 Championship mark with a time of 22.49. Earlier this season, she broke the 11-second barrier in the 100-meter, posting a time of 10.99 for the fastest collegiate time in the nation. Cunliffe also help the Ducks set a meet record in the women’s 4x100-meter race with a winning time of 42.71. She was also named Pac-12 Track Athlete of the Week on April 19. Cunliffe is the third-consecutive Oregon sprinter to win the women’s track honor.

Pau Tonnesen wins the Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Year award for the second-straight year after winning his second-consecutive decathlon title at the Pac-12 Championships. He won four of the five events on the second day of competition to claim the title. He also tied for second in the pole vault competition and he also participated in the high jump at the Pac-12 Championships. Voted Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week on April 12, he ranks sixth in the nation among decathletes, nearly breaking the 8,000-point barrier earlier this season. He already ranks third all-time in Pac-12 history, after posting 8,247 points in a runner-up performance at the NCAA Championships last year, which was good enough to earn him a spot at the Olympic Games this summer in Rio, representing his home country of Spain. It is the third-consecutive year a Wildcat has won the men’s field honor and fourth in five years.

Amalie Iuel is the first Trojan to win the women’s field athlete of the year award and the first heptathlete to win the honor since UO’s Brianne Theisen in 2012. Iuel won her second Pac-12 Championship individual title in the heptathlon in three years, becoming just the seventh heptathlete in Pac-12 history to break 6,000 points. She tallied 6,011 over the two days, dominating the competition by winning five of the seven events. She tallied 1,000 points in four of the events, as well. She also placed fifth in the high jump at the Pac-12 Championships.

Matthew Maton had a strong outing at the Pac-12 Championships, advancing to the finals of the 1,500 meters to finish second, edging out teammate Sam Prakel by less than half a second. His time of 3:39.97 was the fifth-fastest in the nation in the event. Maton is the third Duck to win the men’s freshman honor in five years and sixth overall since the award’s inception in 2000.

Ariana Washington placed second in the 100 meters and third in the 200 meters, giving the Ducks a historic 1-2-3 sweep in both events, a feat that had never been accomplished before in those events in the same season. She also ran on the 4x100-meter relay team that set a meet-record and the win. A redshirt freshman, her 11.18 in the 100-meter race was the 11th-fastest in the nation this season and her 22.97 was just out of the top-25 at 26th. Washington is the third Duck all-time to win the women’s freshman award (since 2000). All three UO winners were sprinters.

Robert Johnson is voted the Pac-12 Women’s Coach of the Year for the third time in four years, leading his women’s squad to a dominating performance at the Pac-12 Championships where the Ducks won their eighth-straight Conference title. UO scored an impressive 185 points to run away with the title as the Ducks claimed six individual and relay titles. The defending NCAA Champion Ducks have been ranked in the top five in the country the entire season and enter the NCAA West Regional ranked third, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Greg Metcalf is voted Pac-12 Men’s Coach of the Year for the first time in hist career. It is also the first time in 40 years a Husky head coach has won the honor since Ken Shannon was a co-winner in 1976. Metcalf led the Husky men’s squad to a second-place finish at the championships over the weekend, the program’s best finish in 40 years, scoring a program-record 122 points. It was also the first time UW had broken 100 points for the meet. Metcalf’s Huskies also won four individual titles at the Pac-12 Championships. After an outstanding performance over the weekend, Washington jumped back into the rankings, going from 36 to 17th in the USTFCCCA poll.