ST. PAUL-- The 2022 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship was dominated by outstanding performances from rookie competitors across the board. The top four athlete awards went to two first-year participants while champion University of Minnesota Morris head coach Josh Kuusisto was selected as the Coach of the Year, it was announced Wednesday.

Bethany Lutheran College standout Stephanie Witbrod collected three awards including Top Scoring Athlete of the Meet, Field Athlete of the Meet and Rookie of the Year. University of Northwestern sprinter Deanna Trucksess was named the Track Athlete of the Meet after sweeping the sprint titles.  

Witbrod made her mark on the UMAC early with a meet for the ages compiling 49 points for the Vikings with participation and scoring in eight different events. She added the most impact in the field events scoring 38 total points in five of the six field events offered – pole vault is the only event she did not compete in. The rookie took first place in all three jumps, finished third in the shot put and seventh in the weight throw. 

In the jumps, Witbrod started the meet with a win in the high jump Friday clearing 1.51 meters (4-11.5) to better her season-best mark. She followed up later in the day with a win in the long jump with another season-best mark of 4.81 meters (15-9.5). Witbrod took the third-and-final jump crown Saturday with a triple jump mark of 10.57 meters (34-8.25). 

On the track, Witbrod finished with the second-fastest prelim time in the 60-meter hurdles at 10.16 before posting a time of 9.81 to place second and add her fourth all-conference finish of the meet. The rookie also led off on the Vikings' 4 x 200-meter relay squad and anchored the team's second-place 4 x 400-meter finish. 

Trucksess and Witbrod led a group of 12 individuals who earned all-conference recognition – first or second place in an individual event or part of a first-place relay – in at least two events. The 10 others include Maddie Carrington (Minnesota Morris), Alexxa DeQuevedo (University of Wisconsin-Superior), Elizabeth Frias (Minnesota Morris), Hailey Gill (Minnesota Morris), Grace Hambike (Minnesota Morris), Landwer (Minnesota Morris), Elizabeth Lofstad (North Central University), Kim Peters (Minnesota Morris) and Kayla Tobin (Bethany Lutheran). 

Top Scoring Athlete of the Meet Award – Stephanie Witbrod, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Track Athlete of the Meet Award – Deanna Trucksess, Fy., Northwestern
Field Athlete of the Meet Award – Stephanie Witbrod, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Rookie of the Year Award – Stephanie Witbrod, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year Award – Josh Kuusisto, Minnesota Morris

UMAC All-Conference

Name	Event(s)	School	Year	Hometown/High School
Anna Brueckner	400-meter Dash (2nd)	Crown	So.	Swanton, Vt./Homeschool
Maddie Carrington	800-meter Run (1st), Mile Run (1st) 4 x 400-meter Relay (1st), Distance Medley Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Morris, Minn./Morris
Alexxa DeQuevedo	60-meter Hurdles (1st), 200-meter Dash (2nd)	Wisconsin-Superior	Jr.	Silver Bay, Minn./William Kelley
Elizabeth Frias	4 x 200-meter Relay (1st), 4 x 400-meter Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Bell, Calif.
Hailey Gill	Weight Throw (1st), Shot Put (2nd)	Minnesota Morris	Jr.	Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria
Lydia Gross	4 x 200-meter Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	So.	Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead
Grace Hambike	4 x 200-meter Relay (1st), 4 x 400-meter Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper
Briahna Hensel	3,000-meter Run (2nd), Distance Medley Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Cottage Grove, Minn./Park
Chloe Higgins	60-meter Dash (2nd)	Wisconsin-Superior	Jr.	Lakeland, Fla./Superior
Ilsa Hoaglund	5,000-meter Run (2nd)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids
Kasha Hughlett	Weight Throw (2nd)	Wisconsin-Superior	Jr.	Maple, Wis./Northwestern
Emily Jackson	Long Jump (2nd)	Bethany Lutheran	Fy.	Castalian Springs, Tenn./Trousdale County
Kaitlyn Ladwig	Distance Medley Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Sr.	Granite Falls, Minn./Yellow Medicine East
Maggie Landwer	4 x 400-meter Relay (1st), Pole Vault (2nd)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert
Elizabeth Lofstad	Mile Run (2nd), Triple Jump (2nd)	North Central	So.	Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial
Jenica Moes	Shot Put (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Sr.	Kranzburg, S.D./Watertown
Abby Pausch	800-meter Run (2nd)	Crown	Jr.	Sleepy Eye, Minn./Homeschool
Kim Peters	4 x 200-meter Relay (1st), Distance Medley Relay (1st)	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Eagan, Minn./Eastview
Jasmine Terry	High Jump (2nd)	Minnesota Morris	Sr.	Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee
Skyla Thompson	Pole Vault (1st)	Northwestern	Fy.	Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake
Kayla Tobin	3,000-meter Run (1st), 5,000-meter Run (1st)	Bethany Lutheran	Fy.	Watertown, Wis./Homeschool
Deanna Trucksess	60-meter Dash (1st), 200-meter Dash (1st), 400-meter Dash (1st)	Northwestern	Fy.	Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake
Stephanie Witbrod	60-meter Hurdles (2nd), High Jump (1st), Long Jump (1st), Triple Jump (1st)	Bethany Lutheran	Fy.	Douglas, Wy./Douglas

UMAC Event Champions

Name	Event(s)	School	Year	Hometown/High School
Maddie Carrington	800-meter Run, Mile Run 4 x 400-meter Relay, Distance Medley Relay	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Morris, Minn./Morris
Alexxa DeQuevedo	60-meter Hurdles	Wisconsin-Superior	Jr.	Silver Bay, Minn./William Kelley
Elizabeth Frias	4 x 200-meter Relay, 4 x 400-meter Relay	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Bell, Calif.
Hailey Gill	Weight Throw	Minnesota Morris	Jr.	Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria
Lydia Gross	4 x 400-meter Relay	Minnesota Morris	So.	Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead
Grace Hambike	4 x 200-meter Relay, 4 x 400-meter Relay	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper
Briahna Hensel	Distance Medley Relay	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Cottage Grove, Minn./Park
Kaitlyn Ladwig	Distance Medley Relay	Minnesota Morris	Sr.	Granite Falls, Minn./Yellow Medicine East
Maggie Landwer	4 x 400-meter Relay	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert
Jenica Moes	Shot Put	Minnesota Morris	Sr.	Kranzburg, S.D./Watertown
Kim Peters	4 x 200-meter Relay, Distance Medley Relay	Minnesota Morris	Fy.	Eagan, Minn./Eastview
Skyla Thompson	Pole Vault	Northwestern	Fy.	Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake
Kayla Tobin	3,000-meter Run, 5,000-meter Run	Bethany Lutheran	Fy.	Watertown, Wis./Homeschool
Deanna Trucksess	60-meter Dash, 200-meter Dash, 400-meter Dash	Northwestern	Fy.	Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake
Stephanie Witbrod	High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump	Bethany Lutheran	Fy.	Douglas, Wy./Douglas

UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – North Central
Bethany Lutheran – Jasmine Bejarano, Sr., Elk Grove, Calif./Laguna Creek
Crown – Anna Brueckner, So., Swanton, Vt./Homeschool
Minnesota-Morris – Grace Hambike, Fy., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper
North Central – Kayley Hyland, Fy., Woodbury, Minn.
Northwestern – Micah Ngafua, Fy., Andover, Minn.
Wisconsin-Superior – Jess Newman, Jr., Wanamingo, Minn./Pine Island