CHARLOTTE, N.C. - VMI's Donnie Cowart has been named the co-Big South Track and Field Athlete of the Year, according to information released by the league office Friday.
Cowart, a redshirt senior from Rustburg, Va., nabbed All-American honors at last week's NCAA Championships, when he earned a 12th-place finish in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He advanced to those finals on the strength of a top-notch effort in the preliminary round, when he set a new Keydet record in the event by clocking in at 8:44.66. That time broke the 31-year-old existing VMI mark by more than five seconds, and qualified Cowart for the 2009 U.S. National Outdoor Track and Field Championships, to be held in Eugene, Ore. June 25-28.
The VMI standout had a strong indoor campaign, which included a new
VMI record in the mile run, as well as a top-five finish in that event
at the IC4A Championships in March. He then followed that up with an
impressive start to the outdoor season, including briefly being ranked
in the top-10 in the country in the steeplechase. He won both that race and the 1,500-meters at the Duke
Invitational, and also posted an IC4A qualifying time in the 800-meters
during the outdoor season.
He then prevailed in the steeplechase at April's Big
South Championships in Radford, Va., a win which marked his first
career individual conference title. At that meet, he also finished
third in the 800-meters, second in the 1,500, and sixth in the
meet-ending 5,000-meter run. Shifting his focus exclusively to the
steeplechase, Cowart then placed fifth at the Penn Relays, where he
posted his then-career-best effort (8:51.25), and he came home seventh at the IC4A meet. Finally, he
placed fourth in May 30's East Regional competition, earning his berth
to the National meet.
Cowart shared this year's Big South honor with Liberty's Sam Chelanga, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Southeast Region Athlete of the Year. The VMI runner will return to action at the U.S. National Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with the first round of the steeplechase set for Thursday, June 25, at 10:25 p.m. EST.
