Sutej earns region accolade

FAYETTEVILLE – Sophomore Tina Sutej, a member of the Arkansas Razorback and women’s track and field team, earned a 2010 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) Region Award, it was announced on Tuesday.

Sutej is the 2010 USTFCCCA South Central Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. She won the pole vault at the 2010 SEC Indoor Championships with a clearance of 14-7.5 and led a 1-3-5 finish for Arkansas in the event.

Her clearance is a personal best, an NCAA auto qualifier, ranks No. 2 in the NCAA, leads the SEC, is the Arkansas school record, is the SEC Championship meet record and betters her existing Slovenian National record. Sutej has not finished lower than fourth in a competition this season. In 2010, Sutej has cleared one provisional-qualifying height and six automatic-qualifying heights.

"Tina is very deserving of this award," women’s head coach Lance Harter said. "She has had a fantastic season and is ready for this NCAA meet. She improves weekly in her jumping and the women’s pole vault will definitely be an event to watch this weekend at the NCAA Championships."

The NCAA Championships will be held Fri.-Sat., March 12-13, at Fayetteville’s Randal Tyson Track Center. ESPN360.com will stream the championships live beginning at 8 p.m. CST on Fri., March 12 and 6:10 p.m. CST on Sat., March 13. NCAA.com and ArkansasRazorbacks.com will stream supplemental coverage as available when ESPN360.com is not live. Live results can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. ESPN2 will air a 90-minute show at 12:30 p.m. CST, Wed., March 17.