Harter, Johnson, Brown Earn USTFCCCA Laurels

NEW ORLEANS – Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year for the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field season were announced Friday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), with Arkansas’ Lance Harter, Chris Johnson, and Janeek Brown earning South Central Region honors.

Lance Harter was named the South Central Region Head Coach of the Year, Chris Johnson earned South Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors, and Janeek Brown was dubbed the South Central Region Track Athlete of the Year.

Harter, in his 29th year as Head Coach at Arkansas, guided the Razorbacks to their eighth-consecutive SEC title with a total of 139.5 points. Arkansas ranks at the top of the leaderboards headed into the final site of the NCAA Championships with a national-best of 17 qualifiers to Austin.

Johnson, in his seventh year with Arkansas, had nine of his athletes advance to the National Championships. He coached Janeek Brown to a world No.2 mark of 12.55 in the hurdles while also lowering her 200-meter personal best 22.47. She won the SEC Championships in the 100-meter hurdles. As a complete unit, his group accounted for 46% of Arkansas’ 139.5 points as the team captured the SEC outdoor title. Johnson’s athletes accounted for nine top-10 marks on the all-time list at Arkansas with performances from this season. Of the Razorbacks NCAA-leading 17 entries to nationals, nine are from Johnson’s sprint/hurdle/relay group.

A sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica, Brown is ranked first nationally in the 100-meter hurdles at 12.55 and second nationally in the 200-meters at 22.47. Earlier this season at the Arkansas National Relay Championships, Brown posted the second-best, single-day double in the 100-meter hurdles/200-meters in world history, trailing only Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Brown is also a member of the Razorbacks’ NCAA-qualifying and school record 4×100 relay team.

Each of the nine regions honored both genders’ top track athletes and field athletes, and the top men’s and women’s head coaches and assistant coaches.

Award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches. Only those individuals from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.

Arkansas’ NCAA-leading 17 entries will take the track at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships next week in Auston, Texas.