Bluffton HS track standout Hannah Chappell-Dick has been named the South/Southeast Region Athlete of the Year. Eastern Mennonite's middle distance runner earned three gold medals at the ODAC Indoor Championships and will be participating in the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Chappell-Dick, a junior at Eastern Mennonite, was given the award by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association member coaches from the region. She is the fastest woman in the region both at 800m and in the mile.
Her 4:56.37 in the mile is No. 5 in the country and set a new ODAC record, while her 800 time of 2:13.43 ranks her No. 6. She earned All-ODAC First Team laurels by winning ODAC titles in both of those events, as well as the distance medley relay, and was named ODAC's Athlete of the Meet. She broke four school records during the indoor season: 800m, 1000m, mile and distance medley relay.
The Royals will be sending Chappell-Dick in the mile and freshman Kat Lehman (Dover, Ohio) in the 3000m to the national meet this Friday and Saturday.
Chappell-Dick is the second EMU athlete to be named the Regional Athlete of the Year this academic season, as Ryan Gehman (Millersville, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) also won it in men's cross country.
