Brooke Simon, Riley Capuano Win Major SCIAC Awards for CMS Women's Track and Field

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Brooke Simon was named the SCIAC Field Athlete of the Year, and Riley Capuano earned the league's Newcomer of the Year honor for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's track and field team, the SCIAC office announced today.

In addition, CMS earned the Coaching Staff of the Year Award, with head coach Glenn Stewart, Marina Muncan, Veronica Bell Amarasekara, Lekeisha Moore, Jeff Venglass and Chris Ramirez earning the distinction after leading the Athenas to their seventh straight league title. Stewart and his staff won the honor for both men's and women's track and field after sweeping the two titles. 

Simon captured the honor after setting a new SCIAC record in the pole vault at the league championships, becoming the first SCIAC athlete to ever clear the 4-meter bar (the old record was 3.97 meters, held by former Athena Jacque Desmond). Simon's performance came on the heels of earning All-America honors at the NCAA indoor championships with an eighth place finish, her third All-America honor in her career (two indoors, one outdoors). 

Capuano earned the Newcomer of the Year honor after winning the league championship in the 1500 meters with a 4:41.00, a key race in helping the Athenas earn the team title by just six points over Redlands. She also added a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters as well to earn five more points, giving her 15 points total in her two events. 

CMS will compete at the Azusa Pacific Last Chance Meet and the Redlands Last Chance Meet in the next two weeks before the NCAA Division III Championships in Rochester, New York, from May 25-27. Simon is in strong position to qualify, ranking second in the nation in the pole vault currently, while Capuano is in the top 50 in the 1500 meters and has two more chances to try to move into the top 22 (currently 4:32.57, with Capuano's PR a 4:36.87)