Track's Steve Mathre, Joe Sweeney get region honors

May 21, 2008

St. Thomas' Joe Sweeney and Steve Mathre swept the outdoor season Central Region Coach of the Year honors for men's and women's track and field. The awards were announced today by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

On May 9-10, Sweeney's Tommies won the institution's 60th conference team title in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. His team swept all CC, indoor and outdoor championships for the second year in a row. The Tommies rolled up 262 points, the second most in women's outdoor history behind UST's 1995 winning total of 269.5. St. Thomas won 14 of 22 events, which is an MIAC meet record. Sweeney has 10 athletes competing at this week's NCAA Championships in Oshkosh, Wis.

Last March, Sweeney's Tommies placed seventh in the NCAA Indoor meet. Last November, UST placed 25th at the NCAA Cross Country meet.

At the May 9-10 MIAC meet, Mathre's Tommies competed without injured All-American James Ewer and rallied from a 38-point deficit to start the final day. UST scored in all 15 Saturday events to pull out a 21-point victory over St. John's. It was UST's 22nd conference outdoor track championship in the last 26 seasons.

Click here to view USTFCCCA news release:

http://ustfccca.cstv.com/sports/division3/spec-rel/052108aac.html

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Joe Sweeney

Sweeney was named the 1995 National Coach of the Year in track and field, and he's been honored as MIAC Coach of the Year several times. A Chicago, Ill., native, Sweeney was a standout distance runner for the Tommies in the late 1970s and was elected into the St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame.

The UST achievements under Sweeney's guidance include:
 
--25 individual national championships (two in cross country, 23 in track & field)

--16 top-7 national team finishes in cross country (five championships, five runner-up finishes)

--The lone Minnesota university to win an NCAA track relay championship (4x100, 1997)

--Nearly 145 All-American honors in cross country and track & field

--3 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

--Top-5 national team placings in cross country, indoor and outdoor track 27 of a possible 77 times

--UST has had a cross country All-American or a team in the national meet 24 out of 28 seasons

--60 MIAC team championships out of 78 contested in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track

--Three impressive MIAC consecutive team championship streaks -- 14, outdoor track (1985-98); 9, indoor track (1989-97); and 9, cross country (1981-89).

 

Steve Mathre

Mathre's 18-year coaching tenure as St. Thomas includes 13 seasons as Tommie head coach and five seasons as a Tommie assistant. In that span, St. Thomas has won all 18 MIAC indoor team championships, plus 14 of the 18 conference outdoor team crowns. St. Thomas’ is 24-for-24 all-time in MIAC indoor team titles -- one of the longest current streaks of its kind in any sport in Division III. Under Mathre's guidance in 2005, St. Thomas became the first program in any MIAC sport to win 22 consecutive conference team championships.

Mathre's UST's 4x400 relay placed second at the indoor national meet -- the best NCAA placing in history by a conference men's relay team. The Tommies placed ninth in the Division III outdoor championships with three top-five finishes. The Tommies' 4x400 relay placed in the top five at outdoor nationals six consecutive seasons from 1999-2004.

In 18 years, he’s coached St. Thomas athletes to 200 All-MIAC honors (16 of which set MIAC meet records) and 75 All-American performances. In his 13 years as the men’s head coach, he has coached athletes to more than 50 All-American performances and more than 80 national-qualifying performances. Mathre is an active member of the United States Track Coaches Association and USA Track and Field.

As a competitor, Mathre was a six-time MIAC hurdle champion and five-time All-American for St. Olaf College. He was named conference MVP and was an NCAA runner-up in the 400 hurdles as a sophomore in 1988, and his time of 52.09 stood as the MIAC best time until it was broken in May 2007.