Flynn, Yerkes, Dr. Toms, Hoey All Earn Region Top Honors

SALEM, Va. --- The ODAC will be represented by one of its strongest contingents at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend as four region top honorees make the trip to Terre Haute, Indiana.  The event is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 14-15, hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its annual regional award winners on Wednesday with ODAC athletes and coaches taking home four major awards.  Lynchburg College distance runner, Ricky Flynn, was tabbed the South/Southeast Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year, and he was joined by head coach, Dr. Jack Toms, as the South/Southeast Region Men's Coach of the Year.  Roanoke College standout Robin Yerkes garnered South/Southeast Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year, and Washington and Lee University mentor, Nate Hoey, was selected as the South/Southeast Region Women's Coach of the Year.

Lynchburg will be represented by three standout male athletes. Flynn, an All-American selection in cross country this fall, will be racing the 5000m. In the 2008-2009 indoor season, Flynn crushed a 16 year old ODAC record of 14:41.4, which was previously set by Gregg Cavaliere. His new winning time of 14:28.98 at Boston University was the third best in the country for all NCAA Division-III athletes. Flynn went on to capture a first place finish at the ODAC Indoor Track Championship meet with a time of 15:09.72. He was a two-time ODAC Athlete of the Week and holds the fourth fastest time in the nation this season.

Brandon Edwards, the male ODAC Athlete of the Meet, will be competing in both the 55m dash and the triple jump. His qualifying marks of 6.42s in the 55m ranks him in 12^th place, while his 14.54m jump puts him at the 10^th spot. Edwards was an ODAC Athlete of the Week after he clocked a 6.50 finish in the 55m, a third best in Lynchburg's history. In the same week, Edwards leaped 6.47 meters in the long jump, and along with his teammates, set a LC 4x200 meter record time of 1:49.31. At the ODAC Championship meet, Edwards won the triple jump with an outstanding jump of 47 feet, 8.5 inches that qualified him for nationals. 

James Bell, a freshman pole vaulter, qualified for nationals after springing 16 feet, 1.25 inches at the Virginia Tech Last Chance Meet. He is 1-of-2 freshmen athletes representing the ODAC in this national competition. Bell's jump made him the new record holder at LC, and is ranked 5^th in the country.

Eastern Mennonite University will send freshman Michael Allen to Indiana where he will compete in both the long and triple jumps. Allen qualified after soaring 22 feet, 11.75 inches in the long jump at the ODAC Championship meet where he also won the event. Allen will be up against fellow ODAC competitor Brandon Edwards in the triple jump. Allen jumped an impressive 47 feet, 4.25 inches to place second behind Edwards in the ODAC Championship meet.

On the women's side, Yerkes will represent Roanoke in both the 55m and 400m dashes. She is ranked 11^th in the 55m, with a qualifying time of 7.22 seconds. Yerkes will be a strong contender in the 400m where her impressive time of 57.04 seconds puts her in the second position. Yerkes was the Co-Athlete of the Meet at the ODAC Championship, along with Washington & Lee University's Elizabeth Webb. Yerkes placed first in three different events, the 55m, 200m, and 400m. At the 2008 NCAA National Indoor Championships last year, she earned her first All-American honors.

Washington and Lee will take senior teammates Webb and Stacy Doornbos who will be competing in the women's one mile run and pentathlon, respectively. Webb, the ODAC Co-Athlete of the Year and two-time ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year, is ranked 12^th with her qualifying time of 5:00.91. Her time set both a new W&L and ODAC record. In the ODAC Championship meet, Webb also claimed the 800m crown with a time of 2:20.92 and placed second in the 5000m, racing 18:24.54.  Doornbos claimed a new school record for W&L and set a new facility record at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she totaled 3,395 points in the pentathlon to qualify for nationals. In the same meet she threw 9.59 meters in the shot put and broke another school record. Her 3,395 points makes her a strong competitor in the pentathlon where she is currently ranked fourth.

To learn more about the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, visit the meet's host website at http://www.rose-hulman.edu/sports/ncaatrack.  You can also visit any of the participating schools' websites or the ODAC home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com