Senior distance runner Amy Shackelford and junior thrower Jon Arthur have been named Southland Conference Outstanding Performers, while head coach Phil Olson has been named men’s and women’s coach of the year announced league officials Thursday morning.
Amy Shackelford, Jon Arthur and Phil Olson recognized by the conference for outstanding seasons.
Shackelford repeated a performance she recorded at the 2009 outdoor conference championships by winning the individual titles in the women’s 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs. She led an SFA sweep of the top three spots by clocking a time of 17:13.69. Shackelford outkicked the competition by nearly 16 seconds at the finish line. The Ladyjacks took the top two spots in the women’s 10K as Shackelford clocked a time of 36:51.17 to win by more than nine seconds.
Arthur put together a similar performance in the throwing circle. He recorded his first conference individual title in the shot put. Arthur recorded a toss of 58-8.00 to win the event. He returned to the throwing circle and narrowly missed another individual title in the hammer throw. Arthur recorded a mark of 194-5 to finish second overall earning All-SLC honors.
During his career as the SFA men’s and women’s head coach, Olson has made an impressive run at conference titles. Since his hiring, the SFA cross country and track and field programs have reached a level never before seen in program history. Olson has guided SFA to 20 team titles, including the last six track and field titles on the women’s side and the first-ever men’s outdoor title. The 2010-11 academic year will go down as one of the most successful in school history as the Ladyjacks won the track and field triple crown taking the conference cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field titles. It marks the 10th and 11th time in Olson’s career that he has been recognized as the league’s coach of the year.
