BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Kelly Baptiste and Richard Thompson, both of LSU, were named the SEC Female and Male Runners of the Year as the SEC announced today its 2008 Outdoor Track and Field awards. Female Field Athlete of the Year went to Brittany Reese of Ole Miss and Male Field Athlete of the Year went to Cory Martin of Auburn. LSU head coach Dennis Shaver was voted Women's Coach of the Year, while Arkansas' John McDonnell was named Men's Coach of the Year. Both coaches led their teams to 2008 conference titles. This marks the final Coach of the Year honor for McDonnell due to the announcement of his retirement upon completion of the 2008 season. McDonnell has garnered 14 SEC Outdoor Coach of the Year honors, while this marks Shaver's second consecutive outdoor honor. Tennessee's Sarah Bowman and Jangy Addy were named Female and Male Scholar-Athletes of the Year, respectively.

Freshmen honors went to Tennessee's Joseph Berry and Annie Alexander, South Carolina's Johnny Dutch and Florida's Rebecca Lowe. Berry and Alexander were named Freshman Field Athletes of the Year, while Dutch and Lowe were named Freshman Runners of the Year.

Also named the 2008 SEC Indoor Runner of the Year, Baptiste picked up her second SEC honor as she won her first career SEC title in the 100m dash with a time of 11.09. She also anchored the title winning 4X100m relay team with a meet record time of 42.80. The senior from Plymouth, Scarborough, Trinidad scored 18 points to help the Lady Tigers defend their SEC Outdoor crown and win their third consecutive SEC Championship.