May 16, 2018
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Western Carolina claimed four of the Southern Conference outdoor track and field individual awards between its men's and women's programs in a vote of the league's head coaches following the SoCon Outdoor Track and Field Championships last week.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes or themselves.
Western Carolina's Scott Peretin was named the male Most Outstanding Field Performer, while fellow Catamount Dasha Arnaut was named the female Most Outstanding Track Performer for the second straight year. WCU coach Cale McDaniel earned men's and women's Coach of the Year honors.
Peretin earned three podium finishes in as many events, as the senior from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, won the hammer throw and finished second in the shot put and discus, one year after finishing third in all three events. Peretin was also named the meet's male Most Outstanding Athlete after pacing the field with 26 total points scored.
Arnaut earned four podium finishes, including a pair of wins. The junior from Asheville, North Carolina, successfully defended her titles in the 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles and added a third-place showing in the 100-meter hurdles and a runner-up finish as part of the Catamounts' 4x100-meter relay unit, which was just 0.04 seconds off of ETSU's pace. Arnaut also scored in the 200-meter dash, finishing eighth.
McDaniel, in his second year at the helm, earned his second straight SoCon Coach of the Year honor on the men's side and first on the women's side after leading the Catamount men to a third consecutive title and the women to their third in four seasons. McDaniel is also the two-time defending indoor Coach of the Year on the men's side.
Male Most Outstanding Track Performer
Malik Diggs, The Citadel
Female Most Outstanding Track Performer
Dasha Arnaut, Western Carolina
Male Most Outstanding Field Performer
Scott Peretin, Western Carolina
Female Most Outstanding Field Performer
Selena Popp, Samford
Male Freshman of the Year
Karon Delince, ETSU
Female Freshman of the Year
Hannah Steelman, Wofford
Men's Coach of the Year
Cale McDaniel, Western Carolina
Women's Coach of the Year
Cale McDaniel, Western Carolina
