The City University of New York Athletic Conference announced its Indoor Track and Field award winners Friday afternoon, and recipients from Lehman College dominated the accolades. Firstly, Lightning skipper Lesleigh Hogg was named Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year for helping his two teams capture CUNYAC championships in 2009. In addition, on the men's side, Pete Charles was named Athlete of the Year, while Andre Gouldbourne was tabbed as Rookie of the Year. Jase Franklyn, who put forth a tremendous year for Lehman, was coined as an All-Star, as was Irfan Anwar. On the women's side for the Lightning, Lauren Lourick, Dorothy Jean-Pierre, Chianne Ashman, and Jillene Sennon were tabbed as All-Stars.
Coach Lesleigh Hogg receiving the Coach of the Year honor is just another highlight the long-tenured Lehman skipper could add to his resume. Since 2000, Hogg has led his indoor track and field units to a combined nine conference championships (seven for the women, and two for the men). Lehman's women's squad has won the title two consecutive years and three of the last four, while the men's team has won two straight championships (08' and 09'). His guidance this season was critical for the Lightning as the team rallied from a slow start to gain momentum and eventually put forth its strongest efforts during the latter stages of the season.
During the 2009 CUNYAC championship meet, Pete Charles was named the Most Valuable Performer as he earned 24 points for his team. The standout won the triple jump event with a leap of 14.41 meters, and he also took first place in the long jump competition with a jump of 6.59 meters. He has been one of Coach Hogg's most consistent performers over the years, and he worked extremely hard this season to earn CUNY's top billing. He'll be competing at Nationals this weekend, as he'll hope to continue to add his legacy at Lehman College.
Gouldbourne truly impressed as a rookie this season for Coach Hogg, and Jase Franklyn put forth his best season in 2008-2009, and he capped off the campaign by coming through when his team needed him the most. At the CUNYAC championship event, in the final event of the evening, Franklyn solidified the championship for his unit by finishing second in the shot-put event with a throw of 13.42 meters.
As for the Lehman women, Dorothy Jean-Pierre and Jillene Sennon brought stability and displayed veteran leadership for the team throughout the season, putting forth many tremendous times and providing insight to the new members of the team. Lauren Lourick was sensational for Lehman at the CUNY championships, and she also qualified for ECAC's in the triple jump event. Chianne Ashman joined the team late and consistently put together terrific times and she became a permanent fixture for a unit that got better as the season went along.
“All of our award winners worked extremely hard to get to be able to achieve these accolades,” Coach Lesleigh Hogg said. “They proved to themselves that anything was possible. They stayed hungry and contributed for their teams when they needed to. I couldn't be more proud of them.”
