10 Golden Bears Earn All-Region Indoor Track & Field Honors

10 members of the Kutztown University track & field teams earned All-Region status across 11 events, announced on Tuesday, Feb. 26, from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), KU's most in a season since 2013. Last year KU sported eight All-Region honorees.

These honors cap off a successful week for head coach Ray Hoffman and both men's and women's programs. The Golden Bear women won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship last weekend, the program's fourth title and first since 2006. The KU men finished third overall, its best finish since 2012.

To earn All-Region honors, an athlete must be one of the top-five individuals in their event in their respective region. In addition, each member of a region's top-three relay teams was also selected for the distinction. The eight regions used in NCAA DII are the Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.

The 10 student-athletes are KU's most since it also reached that number during 2013.

Kelly Groth (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) received the nod for two events, both the 60m and 200m. She was the lone representative on the track.

In the field, Taye Dairo (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), Becca Hemingway (Perkiomenville, Pa./Boyertown Area) and Caleb Baukman (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) earned All-Region honors in the high jump, while another trio of Ally Tama (Towanda, Pa./Towanda Area), Katie Seegert (Old Saybrook, Conn./Old Saybrook) and Xavier Feliciano (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett (Immaculata)) received recognition in the pole vault. The duo of Ashley Petre (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and EJ Umoh (Bear, Del./Appoquinimink (Lock Haven)) were named in the weight throw. Tommy Oliver (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) rounded out the group by earning All-Region in the heptathlon. Petre is the only Golden Bear to earn the distinction before.

At PSACs last Saturday, Feb. 23, Groth's new school-record of 7.70 in winning the 60m, and then placing second in the 200m brought her into All-Region status for the first time in her career. Dairo won the high jump in a PR of 1.69m (5-6.50), third all-time at KU, while Hemingway finished third at 1.63m (5-4.25).

Petre was second in the weight throw with a career-best throw of 16.76 (55-0), fourth all-time in KU history. Both Tama and Seegert each had personal-best and NCAA-Provisional marks of 3.65m (11-11.75) in the pole vault at KU's Last Chance Invite on Feb. 15.

For the men, Umoh posted an NCAA-Provisional in the weight throw of 18.16m (59-07.00), second all-time, at the Last Chance Invite. Feliciano also had a Provisional mark at the event, clearing 4.85m (15-11.00), eighth at KU, in the pole vault. Baukman finished third in the high jump at PSACs with a PR of 1.99m (6-6.25), seventh all-time in program lore. Oliver had a career-best finish of second in the heptathlon at the PSAC Championships.

The outdoor season for the Golden Bears begins on Thursday, March 14, at the 49er Classic in Charlotte, N.C.