NEW ORLEANS, La. --- The Moravian University men's and women's indoor track & field squads had eight student-athletes named as United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region honorees Tuesday afternoon.
The USTFCCCA is in its eighth year on naming All-Region selections for indoor and outdoor track & field at the NCAA Division III level after having All-Region honors in cross country for a number of years. For a student-athlete to earn All-Region honors, an athlete must be ranked in the top-5 of an individual event in the region according to the final Track & Field Results Reporting System data or be part of a top-3 relay team. Moravian is part of the Metro Region.
"The Metro Region is extremely deep for track and field with numerous NCAA qualifiers across all events in both genders," commented Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "Finishing in the top 5 rankings in an event really says something about what our athletes were able to do this season!"
The Moravian women's team had five student-athletes earn All-Region honors with junior jumper Lexi Groff having the second-best performance in the region, clearing 1.66 meters (5-5.25) in the high jump at the Ursinus College Bow Tie Invitational in December. Groff will compete in the high jump at the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships on Saturday, March 11 at 1:30 p.m. EST.
The Greyhounds' 4x400-meter relay squad of seniors Rachel Byrne and Crystal Robinson, sophomore Abby Giamoni and freshman Elena Bocchetti had the third best time in the region when the quartet set the school record with a time of 3:59.02 at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational in February.
The Hounds had three All-Region honorees on the men's side with sophomore Trey Rolle tying for the second-best height in the region in the high jump at 2.00 meters (6-6.75) at the Bow Tie Invitational. Senior Shane Houghton turned in the region's third best time in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:40.55 at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational while sophomore Trevor Gray was fourth in the region in the 60-meter dash at 6.89 seconds, which he ran in the season-opening Lehigh University Fast Times Before Finals back in December.
"Trevor showed this with remarkable consistency in the 60m throughout the entire season at numerous meets including this weekend at AARTFCs," Baumann said. "Trey battled some injuries in February, but exploded onto the scene in December showing a glimpse of what he could accomplish. Lexi clearly stood out since she'll be representing us at the NCAA Championships this week. Our women's 4x400 was able to break 4:00 twice this season, a standard that has long stood as a major benchmark for indoor relays, and then Shane nearly set our school record in Boston for his 5K. All these athletes put in an amazing amount of work this year and it showed with this recognition of their remarkable performances this winter."
To view the entire USTFCCCA All-Region honoree list, visit https://www.ustfccca.org/2023/03/featured/2023-ncaa-division-iii-indoor-track-field-all-region.
