The Nebraska men's track and field program earned two USTFCCCA Midwest Region awards on Thursday. Justin St. Clair was named the Midwest Region Men's Coach of the Year and junior heptathlete and long jumper Till Steinforth was named the Midwest Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year.
Award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches following the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships at the TRACK at new balance in Boston, Mass.
St. Clair, in his second year as head coach, led eight Husker men and nine entries to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Nebraska earned five First-Team All-America honors on the men's side and tied for 12th in the team standings. At the Big Ten Indoor Championships, the men finished second and crowned three Big Ten Champions. St. Clair specializes in the throws, where NU scored 20 team points at the conference meet between the shot put and weight throw. Throughout the season, 13 athletes have moved up on Nebraska's all-time list.
The last time a Nebraska head coach won this honor was when Gary Pepin received the award after the 2019 indoor season.
Steinforth claimed two First-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He finished third in the heptathlon with 6140 points to mark his highest-career NCAA finish. The junior from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany won the long jump portion and placed third in the pole vault portion on his way to secure bronze in the heptathlon. He added a seventh-place finish in the long jump at NCAAs with a mark of 25-10 (7.87m), two weeks after winning the Big Ten title in the event. At the conference meet, Steinforth went a personal-best 26-2 3/4 (7.99m) on his final attempt to secure gold and move up to a tie for fourth on Nebraska's all-time list. The Big Ten Men's Field Athlete of the Year is familiar with the all-time list as he owns the heptathlon and decathlon school records.
This is the second-straight year a Husker athlete has brought in an indoor postseason regional honor. Jonah Wilson became the first athlete to earn the award for NU last season.