Four days after leading the University of Minnesota Duluth to their second NCAA Division II Central Region Championship in as many years, Samantha Rivard was named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association Central Region Athlete of the Year while her head coach, Joanna Warmington, received the Central Region Coach of the Year citation from that same group

Rivard, a sophomore from Oak Grove, Minn., captured individual honors at last Saturday's Regional meet in Wayne, Neb., finishing with a 6K time of 21:05.73. She also placed first overall at three other events this fall -- the Roy Griak Invitational, the Bob Waxlax Invitational and the St. Olaf Invitational. Rivard is the second Bulldog to attain a USTFCCCA Central Region Athlete of the Year citation, joining Morgan Place (2009).

Warmington, the USTFCCCA Central Region Coach of the Year award recipient one year ago as well, is in her fifth season at the UMD helm. She has directed the Bulldogs to four NCAA II championship appearances (2014, 2013 and 2011) and one Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title (2013) while helping produce one All-American in Rivard (2013) during her head coaching tenure. Her 2014 Bulldogs lost the NSIC championship to Augustana College in a tie breaker, but finished first as a team in four other meets during the season.

The Bulldogs will compete in the NCAA II Cross Country Championships next Saturday (Dec. 6) in Louisville, Ky.

2014 USTFCCA All-Region Awards