NEW ORLEANS, LA - The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) claimed two of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region awards for the 2026 outdoor season, announced on Thursday, May 28.

Wittenberg sophomore Jack Kittle (Chagrin Falls, OH/Chagrin Falls) was named the Great Lakes Region Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, while John Carroll's Daniel Tutskey was tabbed the Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year.

Kittle closed his sophomore campaign with three First-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, placing third in the 400 meters in a school-record 46.15, seventh in the 200 meters, and eighth as part of the 4x400 relay. At the NCAC Outdoor Championships, he swept the 200 and 400 titles and ran a leg on the winning 4x400 relay for a total of 22.5 points, breaking his own NCAC meet record in the 400 with a time of 46.56. He's the first Wittenberg athlete to earn Great Lakes Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.

Tutskey, John Carroll's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, guided the Blue Streaks to their first NCAC Outdoor Championship title and the program's first conference crown since 2002, collecting 164 points with 12 All-NCAC honorees and two individual event champions. The title came in John Carroll's first year of NCAC outdoor competition. His group went on to produce 16 USTFCCCA All-Region performances, and all seven Blue Streaks who advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships came away with All-America recognition as John Carroll finished 12th overall with 17 points. It's Tutskey's first Great Lakes Coach of the Year honor; he previously was tabbed the region's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2023.