Cullowhee, N.C. – For the second consecutive year, Western Carolina track and field is represented on the Southern Conference specialty awards as Daniel Coronell was today named the SoCon Most Outstanding Male Field Performer and co-Male Freshman of the Year, as selected by the league's head coaches.

Coronell is the second Catamount in two seasons to earn Most Outstanding Male Field Performer, joining Kwan Oates in the accomplishment. He is the fifth WCU men's student-athlete to earn the award, with seven total honors spread over those winners. Matt Evans (2009, 2010) and Jared Johnson (2014, 2015) were awarded twice, with Javell Brown (2022), Oates (2025), and now Coronell (2026).

WCU has boasted the SoCon's Most Outstanding Field Performer in three of the past five seasons.

A product of Fletcher, N.C., Coronell also became the 15th Catamount to earn men's SoCon Freshman of the Year plaudits, and the first to do so since Dohnavon Hunt in 2023. The Catamounts have earned the most freshman of the year honors in the conference dating back to 1992 with 15 selections, 10 more than second-place ETSU (5). Coronell split the co-Freshman of the Year accolade with VMI's Deonte Harris, and marks the first time the award has been given to two freshmen in the same year since its introduction in 1992.  

Coronell's honors come after a 17-point performance at his first career Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship. The rookie claimed silver in the men's long jump, setting a personal record in the event with a leap of 7.12m. He also took fourth in the men's high jump with a 1.99m clear and was fifth in the triple jump with a 13.23m bound.  

Coronell and the Catamounts return to action to open the 2026 outdoor season in Mobile, Ala., at the South Alabama Outdoor Invitational on March 13-14.