Barksdale Named Southeast Region Women’s Coach of the Year

NEW ORLEANS, La. – First-year head coach Tommy Barksdale of the University of Montevallo women’s cross country team was named the Southeast Region Women’s Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Barksdale becomes just the second coach of a women’s program at UM to be named Region Coach of the Year since the Falcons joined the NCAA.

Barksdale joins women’s soccer head coach Patricia Hughes as the only UM coaches of women’s programs to be named Region Coach of the Year. Hughes won the award in 2007 as she led her team to the NCAA South Region Championship match and a Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship.

Barksdale and the UM women’s cross country team will become the first UM women’s program to advance to the NCAA Finals as they travel to Spokane, Washington on Nov. 19 to compete at the NCAA Championships.

Barksdale led Montevallo to a second place finish at the Southeast regional, improving from a 13th-place showing in 2010. The team also became the first women’s program at UM to win a Peach Belt Conference Championship earlier this season.