Nov. 19, 2008
NEW ORLEANS, LA -
Head coach Bobby Van Allen was named Mideast Region Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA on Wednesday. Van Allen has led the Johns Hopkins women's cross country team to its first Centennial Conference championship and the first Mideast Regional championship in school history. Under his guidance, junior Laura Paulsen also won the Centennial Conference as an individual in 2008.
Van Allen earns his second Coach of the Year honor after receiving Centennial Conference Coach of the Year accolades last week. Since coming to Hopkins in 1999, he has increased the size and prestige of the men's and women's cross country and track & field programs. The women's cross country team had never finished higher than fourth in the Centennial Conference prior to Van Allen's arrival. After two consecutive third place finishes in 2006 and 2007, Hopkins captured its first Centennial Conference team championship in 2008. The Blue Jays went on to claim first in the Mideast Region last weekend as well.
Van Allen and the Blue Jays are off to Hanover, IN to compete in the NCAA Championship on Saturday, November 22.
