University of Tennessee Athletics
Carlson, Jacobs Recognized With USTFCCCA Regional Awards
November 22, 2022 | Cross Country
NEW ORLEANS — Tennessee men's cross country was recognized with a pair of regional postseason honors Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Head coach Sean Carlson was named the South Region Men's Coach of the Year, while graduate student Dylan Jacobs was selected as the South Region Men's Athlete of the Year.
Regional award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches and are automaticcaly placed on the ballot for national awards, which are set to be announced Monday, Nov. 28.
In his first year at the helm of the Volunteer distance program, Carlson led the Big Orange to heights the program had not seen in more than two decades. The Vols earned a runner-up finish at the SEC Cross Country Championships and had three individuals earn All-SEC honors, representing the best finish at the conference meet and most all-conference athletes for Tennessee since 1999.
Tennessee claimed the team title at the NCAA South Region Championship in dominant fashion with its top-five runners all placing inside the top-20. The Vols won the meet with 39 points—outperforming Ole Miss (69) and Alabama (73) to automatically punch their ticket to the NCAA National Championship for the first time in 17 years.
Carlson's debut season culminated with a pair of athletes earning All-America acclaim as Jacobs and Yaseen Abdalla placing fourth and 33rd at the national meet, respectively. The Vols took 20th place at the championship event for the highest finish of any South Region squad and the best placement for the Vols since 1995.
Carlson earns his third career regional coaching award and becomes the first Tennessee head coach to be named USTFCCCA South Region Men's Coach of the Year since George Watts in 2002.
Hailing from Orland Park, Illinois, Jacobs has made an immediate impact on the distance program since joining the Vols as a graduate transfer this past summer. Making his postseason debut for Tennessee at the SEC meet in Oxford, Mississippi, he battled for the individual title and took second overall with a personal-best 8K time of 22:42.78.
Ramping up to the 10K distance for NCAA meets, Jacobs was equally as dominant in leading the Vols to a marquee postseason run. At the South Region Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, he finished nearly simultaneously with Abdalla in 29:28.7 for third place overall before capping his debut season at UT with a fourth-place showing at nationals—crossing the line in 28:58.0 and recording the highest individual NCAA finish by a Vol since three-time Olympian and former UT head coach Doug Brown placed second in 1972.
The Tennessee distance squad opens indoor track & field season next weekend, splitting up for the Clemson Opener (Friday, Dec. 2) and the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener (Saturday, Dec. 3) at Boston University.
Regional award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches and are automaticcaly placed on the ballot for national awards, which are set to be announced Monday, Nov. 28.
In his first year at the helm of the Volunteer distance program, Carlson led the Big Orange to heights the program had not seen in more than two decades. The Vols earned a runner-up finish at the SEC Cross Country Championships and had three individuals earn All-SEC honors, representing the best finish at the conference meet and most all-conference athletes for Tennessee since 1999.
Tennessee claimed the team title at the NCAA South Region Championship in dominant fashion with its top-five runners all placing inside the top-20. The Vols won the meet with 39 points—outperforming Ole Miss (69) and Alabama (73) to automatically punch their ticket to the NCAA National Championship for the first time in 17 years.
Carlson's debut season culminated with a pair of athletes earning All-America acclaim as Jacobs and Yaseen Abdalla placing fourth and 33rd at the national meet, respectively. The Vols took 20th place at the championship event for the highest finish of any South Region squad and the best placement for the Vols since 1995.
Carlson earns his third career regional coaching award and becomes the first Tennessee head coach to be named USTFCCCA South Region Men's Coach of the Year since George Watts in 2002.
Hailing from Orland Park, Illinois, Jacobs has made an immediate impact on the distance program since joining the Vols as a graduate transfer this past summer. Making his postseason debut for Tennessee at the SEC meet in Oxford, Mississippi, he battled for the individual title and took second overall with a personal-best 8K time of 22:42.78.
Ramping up to the 10K distance for NCAA meets, Jacobs was equally as dominant in leading the Vols to a marquee postseason run. At the South Region Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, he finished nearly simultaneously with Abdalla in 29:28.7 for third place overall before capping his debut season at UT with a fourth-place showing at nationals—crossing the line in 28:58.0 and recording the highest individual NCAA finish by a Vol since three-time Olympian and former UT head coach Doug Brown placed second in 1972.
The Tennessee distance squad opens indoor track & field season next weekend, splitting up for the Clemson Opener (Friday, Dec. 2) and the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener (Saturday, Dec. 3) at Boston University.
Players Mentioned
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