Limage and Haynie Tabbed Athletes of the Year
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Junia Limage from Concordia University (Ore.) and Robbie Haynie of Eastern Oregon, have been voted the 2011-12 Cascade Collegiate Conference Athletes of the Year and Track and Field Athletes of the Year, the conference office announced Friday.
The annual awards, voted on by the CCC’s athletic directors, are presented to one male and one female who have distinguished themselves on the field of play during the academic year. The conference coaches voted Limage and Haynie recipients of the track and field athletes of the year.
A three-sport athlete that helped all three Concordia teams to top-10 national finishes, Limage captured two individual NAIA National Championships and four total All-American honors in 2012. After winning the indoor title in the 800-meter run with a school record 2:11.39, Limage returned to defend her title at the outdoor championships. Ranked No. 1 in the event heading to outdoor nationals, Limage crossed in 2:07.10 for the fastest time in the NAIA by nearly two seconds.
With her win, Limage helped Concordia to a second place team finish at the outdoor national championships while her indoor victory boosted the team to an eighth place finish. Limage added a third All-American track honor as a member of CU’s fifth-place team in the distance medley relay team during the indoor season. A versatile middle-distance runner, Limage earned the NAIA ‘A’ standard in three different events.
She won both the 400 and the 800 at the CCC Championships to help CU to its sixth straight team title. A senior, Limage ends her CU career with four individual school records as well as a member of two school record relay teams.
The first of Limage’s four All-American honors in the 2011-12 year came with a 23rd-place finish at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships while helping CU to an eighth place team finish in the fall, tying its all-time best result.
At the Indoor National Championships, Haynie won the heptathlon and pole vault national titles. In the heptathlon, Haynie won the multi-event showcase with a new NAIA Indoor National Championship meet record point total of 5,781. The point total was the ninth best from any collegian. During the two days of events, he broke the heptathlon high jump and the heptathlon pole vault national championship records.
Haynie amassed a school-record 7,598 points in the decathlon at the outdoor national championships. That total is just two points shy of the U.S. Olympic Trial provisional mark. During the decathlon, he hit a personal record in pole vault at 17 feet, 10 inches. That mark is currently the 13th best mark from any collegian this season, and a new NAIA Outdoor National Championship record in the decathlon.
In the high jump, the senior cleared 6 feet, 11.5 inches for the national title. He was the conference decathlon champion and named CCC Field Athlete of the Meet at the conference championships. He was the only athlete in the NAIA to clear 17 feet in the pole vault and seven feet in the high jump. He was named conference athlete of the week five times during the year, and national athlete of the week three times.