Ben Harmon Named USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year

St. Louis, Mo., May 23, 2011 — Senior Ben Harmon of the Washington University in St. Louis men’s outdoor track & field team was named the 2011 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year, it was announced Monday by the association.

Harmon, who will wrap up his prolific career at the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held this Thursday-Saturday, May 26-28, on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, earns the USTFCCCA honor for the first time in his career. He will be presented with the award at the NCAA Championship banquet on Wednesday evening.

A five-time All-American, Harmon automatically qualified to compete in the decathlon at this year’s NCAA outdoor meet with a season-best 6,763 point performance at the Washington University Invitational on April 1-2, in St. Louis, Mo., ranking third in the nation heading into this week’s championship.

He will also compete in the long jump, which he provisionally qualified for with a season-best distance of 7.13 meters during his decathlon qualifying performance at the WUSTL Invitational.

Harmon is a two-time All-American in the decathlon, placing fifth as a freshman in 2008, and fourth in 2009. He racked up a pair of All-America performances at the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, where he finished fourth in the pentathlon and eighth in the long jump.

After helping lead Washington University to the University Athletic Association (UAA) 2011 Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Harmon earned UAA Men’s Most Outstanding Performer in the Field Events following each meet, winning a total of six conference championships, three at the indoor meet and three at the outdoor.

He has garnered more All-America accolades than any other men’s track and field student-athlete in school history and is one of only two student-athletes in Washington University history to become a two-time All-American in the decathlon.