NEW ORLEANS (June 1, 2026) - The outstanding 2026 Georgian Court Track and Field season and offseason continues into the month of June. A month after winning the CACC Men's and Women's Outdoor Championships, Lions Assistant Coach Chris Rash has been named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Rash is the Lions throws coach working primarily with the shot putters, discus and hammer throwers. That group put on a tremendous showing at the conference meet and led the regional rankings. Georgian Court Track and Field competes in the East Region along with the other members of the CACC, the ECC and the Northeast-10 conferences. 

This is Rash's first USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year award and the seventh in Georgian Court history. Former throws coach Joe Napoli won the award four times, 2012, 2016 and 2017 as the Women's Assistant Coach of the Year and additionally in 2017 as the Men's. Current jumps coach Timothy Loehwing was the Women's Assistant Coach in back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023. 

At this year's CACC Conference Championship meet, Georgian Court won the meet scoring 179 points. Of those, 103 came from Rash's throwing group, nearly 58% of the team's total. Georgian Court had the conference champion in each of the four throwing events with Malicah Etienne winning the shot put and discus, Mark Linton winning the hammer throw and Cameren Anderson winning the javelin. The Lions had at least five throwers score points in each of the shot put, discus and hammer throw. Following the meet, Mark Linton was named the Men's Field Athlete of the Year.

On the regional level, Georgian Court's men's throwers earn seven USTFCCCA All-Region awards for finishing in the top-five in their events. Mark Linton earned three for the shot put, discus and hammer throw while Cameren Anderson and Malicah Etienne were All-Region in the shot put and discus. Both Linton and Etienne also hit NCAA Division II National Championship qualifying marks in the discus. 

At the end of the season, Georgian Court's had the top four and six of the top eight throwers in the CACC in the shot put, the top three and five of the top six in the discus, the top two and four of the top five in the hammer throw and the top javelin thrower. They had three in the top-five in the region in the shot put and four in the top eight, three in the top four in the discus and four more in the top-20 in the hammer throw. No other East Region team had that mix of top-end talent and depth in any event group.

This year's throws group put a big dent into the GCU all-time record book. In total, there are 10 new all-time marks from 2026 alone along with a new school record. Mark Linton is responsible for the new school record in the hammer throw. Linton, Cameren Anderson, Guius Dabney and Malicah Etienne put four new shot put throws into the top-10. Linton, Anderson and Amir Spruell-Everson put their names in the top-10 in the hammer throw. Anderson and Etienne did so in the discus. Anderson went 4-for-4, reaching the GCU top-10 in all four throwing events this season - shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin.