Kearney, Neb. – Nebraska-Kearney senior Wes Ferguson has been named the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II Outdoor Male Track Athlete of the Year.
The five-time national champion and nine-time All-American is the second Loper to win a USTFCCAA National Award; current throws coach and eight-time All-American Dane Tobey was the 2010 D2 Male Field Athlete of the Year.
Ferguson (Fremont) recently won the 800-meter outdoor national title to cap a season in which he went undefeated against college competition. Besides winning the NCAA title by almost 10 yards, Ferguson was first at the prestigious Drake Relays and first among collegians at the Bryan Clay (Calif.) Invitational. He ended the year with the 12th fastest 800 time (1:45.85) among all collegians with the effort also ranking fifth best in D2 history. Finally, Ferguson won a third straight MIAA 800 title and was the Central Region Male Track A.O.Y, an award he also won during indoors.
Despite missing time during the winter, he still won the 800 national title (1:48.13) and was part of the fourth fastest DMR team (9:46.43) in school history.
The UNK Male Student-Athlete of the Year, Ferguson also was a finalist for the Ken B. Jones Award (MIAA Male Student-Athlete of the Year).
The UNK graduate runs Sunday afternoon at 1:53 p.m. (Central) in the New York Grand Prix with the U.S. Olympic Trials set for June 27-30 in Eugene, Oreg.
