Feb. 22, 2007

FRISCO, Texas - After the dust settled at the Yeoman Fieldhouse in the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship last weekend, Lamar's Francis Kasagule and Clerc Koenck were voted the men's and women's Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year by the league's head coaches.

Kasagule, a freshman from Gayhza, Uganda, finished with 22.50 points after winning the mile and 3,000 thousand meter run as well as anchoring the distance medley relay, earning him the distinction as the first LU men's track member to finish as the top point scorer in the league's championship meet. Earlier in the year Kasagule began to grab headlines when he set a new conference record in the three thousand meter run at the Terrier Invitational in Boston, Mass., beating Louisiana-Lafayette's William Wilkinson's mark (8:07.44) by 10 seconds (7:57.91).

Carrying his momentum into the Southland's Indoor Championship, Kasagule walked away with three postseason awards. Outstanding Track Performer, Athlete of the Year, and the league's inaugural Freshman of the Year award, all of which had never been claimed by a Lamar athlete.

In almost identical fashion, Clerc Koenck matched Kasagule's 22.50 points with wins in the one-mile and 3,000 thousand meter run and the anchor leg of the DMR, giving her the honor as the first Lamar women's track member to finish as the top point scorer in the league's championship meet. Continuing in her record-setting pace, Koenck took home dual honors as the league awarded her the Outstanding Track Performer and Athlete of the Year, neither of which have been given to a Lamar women's track member.

"These are very fitting honors for both of these athletes, not only based on their performances at the conference meet, but all season long," head track coach Trey Clark said. "These are honors that the coaches in this league voted on, and it is great that they have recognized these two athletes. This is something that the university can be proud of and something they as individuals can be proud of as well."

Kasagule, Koenck and the rest of the Lamar University track and field team will be in action again on March 2, when they open the outdoor season at the Northwestern Relays in Natchitoches, La.