Liz Wanless was named the U.S. Track Coaches Association Female Regional Athlete of the Year, and Al Fereshetian was selected as the USTCA Men’s Regional Coach of the Year for New England on Wednesday night.

Wanless ’04 (Belleville, Ill.) won the shot put at the 2004 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships with a meet record throw and has won the event at the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships, the Division III New England Championships and the ECAC Championships during the outdoor track season. She enters the outdoor national championships as the top seed in the shot put with a toss of 53 feet, one inch, leading the field by more than five feet.

Fereshetian led the Bobcat men to the best season in program history entering the NCAA championships. Bates won the State of Maine Championship, then finished second at NESCAC’s, D-III New England’s and ECAC’s. The team also finished seventh at the Open New England Championships, tied for first among NCAA Division III institutions.

Bates has six men and two women entered in the 2004 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. Competition begins on Thursday at 11 a.m. CST.

After claiming second place in each of the last two NCAA Track & Field Championships, Bates College senior Liz Wanless finally won the elusive national shot put championship, and she did it in style, beating the field by more than five feet and hitting the Olympic Trial “B” qualifying distance.

For the latest updates on Bates student-athletes at the NCAA Championships, visit the Athletics homepage at http://www.bates.edu/sports.xml.

Bobcats at NCAA Championships