COLONIA, NJ – The East Coast Conference (ECC) announced its Outdoor Track & Field award winners today following the ECC Championships, which were held on Thursday, April 30. St. Thomas Aquinas College narrowly captured the men’s title, while the University of the District of Columbia claimed the women’s championship.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas men’s head coach Ray Kondracki and UDC women’s head coach Simone Grant were named ECC Coaches of the Year. Spartans’ freshman Darwin-Almonte Pena (Haverstraw, NY) earned Men’s Athlete of the Meet honors, while Firebirds sophomore Kyndra Hines (St. Mary, Jamaica) was named Women’s Athlete of the Meet.
 
Kondracki guided St. Thomas Aquinas to the ECC men’s championship in his seventh season at the helm, edging Roberts Wesleyan University by a single point, 195-194. The Spartans scored in all but five events and were highlighted by six individual first-place finishes and a victory in the 4x100-meter relay. St. Thomas Aquinas also had nine student-athletes earn All-ECC First Team honors, while 12 received Second Team recognition.
 
Grant led UDC to its second consecutive ECC women’s championship and earned her second career ECC Coach of the Year award. The Firebirds secured four gold medals en route to the title. UDC also placed 12 student-athletes on the All-ECC First Team, while seven individuals and one relay team earned Second Team honors.
 
Pena captured three gold medals at the ECC Championships, including two individual titles and one relay victory. He won the 200-meter dash in 21.71 seconds and claimed the 110-meter hurdles title in a meet-record time of 14.76. Pena also ran on the winning 4x100-meter relay team, which posted a time of 41.98.
 
Hines earned three gold medals and added two All-ECC Second Team honors as part of relay teams. She set a meet record of 14.08 in the 100-meter hurdles and won the 100-meter dash (12.09) and 200-meter dash (25.30). Hines was also a member of the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams that finished second.