MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — 

United States Coast Guard Academy track & field senior Tara Jessen (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) has repeated as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference's (NEWMAC) Women's Track Athlete of the Year, as announced by the conference in their women's track & field major awards release on Friday.

All women's track & field major awards are voted upon the conference's coaches following the conclusion of the NEWMAC Championships, with the honors reflecting the top performers of the meet. With this season's nod, Jessen goes back-to-back as the Women's Track Athlete of the Year. She was recognized for her double title defense performance last weekend, winning her specialty events of the heptathlon and 400-meter hurdles. Jessen also broke her own meet record in the heptathlon, scoring 4,236 points in the multi. She won five events along the way and set new multi-event records in four of them.

Along with the major award, Jessen joined eight of her teammates across the men's and women's teams as an All-Conference honoree. The NEWMAC track & field All-Conference teams are made up of the top two finishers in each event. The event champion is named First Team, while the runner-up is named Second Team. The lone other bear on First Team was fellow senior Allie Wildsmith (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), who won the high jump to finish her NEWMAC career as a four-time champion at the meet. Coast Guard had representation on Second Team in the women's 800 meters, men's 10,000 meters, women's 4x400m relay, and men's long jump.

First Team All-Conference
Jessen: 400m Hurdles, Heptathlon
Wildsmith: High Jump

Second Team All-Conference
Ella Besant (Morehead, Ky.): 4x400m Relay
Paul Hobbs (Vacaville, Calif.): 10,000 Meters
Bianca McIntosh (Woodbridge, Va.): 4x400m Relay
Tytan Moore (St. Petersburg, Fla.): Long Jump
Kate Stebbins (Chapin, S.C.): 800 Meters
Alaina Stonebraker (Salt Lake City, Utah): 4x400m Relay
Millie Wymbs (Salisbury, N.C.): 4x400m Relay