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Dodd & Sledge

Track and Field Iain Dexter, EOU Sports Information Director

EOU Track & Field Snags 6 USTFCCCA West Region Awards

LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon track and field teams earned six of a possible eight west region awards given by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Friday.
 
Head coach Ben Welch swept the coaching awards for the men's and women's side while Rebecca Rhodes did the same for the assistant coaches awards. Senior Paige Dodd won the women's field athlete of the year and junior Corey Sledge earned the men's field athlete of the year.
 
Ben Welch • West Region Men's & Women's Coach of the Year
 
Welch has both the men's and women's programs ranked first in the west region of the USTFCCCA. The women's program is far and away the top team in the region, earning 662.05 points. Second place College of Idaho has just 408.37 points. The women's team is also ranked 13th overall in the NAIA with 11 qualifiers for nationals.
 
The men's team leads the region with 504.87 points, ahead of second place Westmont with 481.19. Nationally, the Mountaineers jumped up seven spots to No. 25 in the final rankings prior to nationals. EOU qualified seven competitors to nationals.
 
Rebecca Rhodes • West Region Men's & Women's Assistant Coach of the Year
 
Rhodes has continued to help lead the Mountaineers to new heights this year with 18 total qualifiers to nationals. On the women's side, Rhodes has at least one athlete ranked in the top ten regionally in every event she covers, with eight events having multiple athletes, and seven events having three of four athletes in the top ten.
 
For the men, Rhodes has athletes ranked in the top-10 regionally in every event except for the 400, including four in the long jump, two in the triple jump and two in the high jump.
 
Paige Dodd • Senior • Multis • West Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year
 
Dodd is ranked first nationally in the pentathlon with 3,381 points. She finished runner-up in the pentathlon at the Vandal Open and Lauren McCluskey Multi against athletes from NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III and the NAIA. She took third place at the NAIA Championships last year in the event.
 
Corey Sledge • Junior • Pole Vault • West Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year
 
Sledge is ranked second nationally in the pole vault at 5.10 meters. He hit the "A" standard each and every time he cleared a bar this year. Sledge took fourth last season at the indoor championships and was the national champion in outdoor last year.
 
The NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships take place this week March 5-7 in Brookings, South Dakota.
 
For more information on Eastern Oregon track and field, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com.     
 
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu
 
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Players Mentioned

Paige Dodd

Paige Dodd

Jumps/Throws
Senior
Corey Sledge

Corey Sledge

Pole Vault
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Paige Dodd

Paige Dodd

Senior
Jumps/Throws
Corey Sledge

Corey Sledge

Redshirt Sophomore
Pole Vault