McGovern, Aldrich and Connelly Receive Mid-Atlantic Regional Awards

(NEW ORLEANS, La.) – Junior Andrew McGovern of the Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team, as well as head coach Gary Aldrich and associate head coach Tim Connelly were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with outstanding regional recognition.

McGovern was named Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year while Aldrich garnered his ninth Coach of the Year honor, five times as indoor and now his fourth for the outdoor season, including third straight. This marks Connelly's second straight and overall honor for track and field.

McGovern became the program's first men's track and field athlete to garner a regional award on the track and third overall honoree, as Bram Miller and Justin Kiefel each garnered the accolade for field events. Miller earned the award in 2022 with Kiefel garnering it in 2021. The USTFCCCA started recognizing Regional Athletes of the Year winners in 2006.

The junior is ranked seventh nationally in the 400-meter hurdles at 52.67. He helped the Tartans win their fifth UAA Outdoor Championship, as he ended the championships with two titles. McGovern was part of the school record 4x800-meter relay team and also won the UAA title in the 400-meter hurdles with a 1.47-second victory.

McGovern will continue his season at this weekend's NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Polisseni Track and Field Complex in Rochester, New York. He will compete in the 400-meter hurdles for the second time in his career. McGovern earned All-America honors in the event after placing sixth at the 2021 championships.

Aldrich, who is in his ninth year at the helm, coached the Tartans to their fifth UAA Outdoor Championship at the end of April and to a runner-up finish at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Outdoor Championships last week for the third consecutive season. Under Aldrich, the Tartans set four school records this season.

Aldrich also received the same accolade in 2019, 2021, and 2022, with indoor honors coming in 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2023. He was previously a five-time USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year winner for the Tartans.

In his ninth year as associate coach, Connelly mentored the distance runners to 74 of the team's 171.5 points at the UAA Outdoor Championships. The 4x800-meter relay team set the school record in winning the UAA title while he has coached the 3,000-meter steeplechasers to an eighth rating in the #EventSquad rankings.

The Tartans will have eight athletes in 10 events this weekend at the 2023 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted at Polisseni Track and Field Complex in Rochester, New York.