USTFCCCA Press Release

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Last week, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its inaugural NJCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year for the 2015 season. Winners of each region were selected based on a vote of NJCAA DIII coaches.

For Harper College men's track and field, sophomore Juan Barajas (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Schaumburg) was named the Central Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year. Hawks men's head coach Renee Zellner was named the Central Region Men's Coach of the Year, and assistant coach Jim Macnider was named the Central Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Entering the national meet, Barajas was the top seed in the 5k with a season-best time of 15:31.94, and he was also ranked No. 2 in the 10k with a time of 32:57.07. Barajas lived up to his billing in both races. He won the 5k in 16:11.26 over his nearest challenger by nearly 15 seconds, and he also placed second in the 10k in a time of 33:54.13.

Zellner's men's squad came into the national meet ranked No. 2 at the NJCAA Div. III level and No. 1 in the region. The Hawks had the second-most entries, 33, into the national meet. Zellner guided the team to a second place finish with 98 points, behind only SUNY-Delhi. Harper captured national titles in three different events (100m, 200m, 5k) and had 20 athletes finish in the Top-8 in an event.

Macnider, the distance coach for the Hawks, just finished up his fifth season with the men's program. Coming into the meet, the distance group was ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 2 nationally and had 12 entries in mid-distance and distance events. At nationals, those athletes scored crucial points to help Harper beat out Montgomery College for runner-up honors.