St. Aug's Kindred Named National Indoor Field Athlete of the Year

St. Aug's Kindred Named National Indoor Field Athlete of the Year

March 13, 2009

Sensational senior jumper Joe Kindred (Fuquay-Varina, NC) of Saint Augustine’s College was selected the 2009 NCAA Division II national indoor men’s field athlete of the year, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday (March 12).

This is the second time in two seasons that Kindred has won a national individual honor. In 2008, Kindred was named the nation’s best outdoor men’s field athlete in NCAA Division II.

This is the third consecutive year that the USTFCCCA national track and field athlete of the year award went to a Saint Augustine’s College student-athlete. In 2007, Kwonya Ferguson was named the nation’s best female athlete in field events.

Earlier this week, Kindred was chosen men’s field athlete of the year in the Atlantic Region while teammate Dennis Boone (Petersburg, Va.) was named the region’s top male track athlete and George Williams was picked the region’s top men’s track and field coach.

Kindred heads into the NCAA Division II national indoor track and field championships Friday and Saturday in Houston, Texas, as the top seed in the long jump, the second seed in the high jump and the third seed in the triple jump. A four-time field MVP in the CIAA conference, Kindred is the defending indoor and outdoor national champion in the high jump.

In the summer of 2008, Kindred competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials and claimed the high jump title at the North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Track and Field Championships in Toluca, Mexico.

As a freshman, Kindred won the national junior high jump crown and finished eighth in the high jump at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing, China.