National Champions McGregor, Toman Selected U-M Athletes of the Year
6/10/1999 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Two NCAA national champions -- cross country runner Katie McGregor (Willoughby, Ohio/Willoughby South HS) and gymnast Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall HS) -- have been named as the 1998-99 University of Michigan Athletes of the Year.
McGregor became Michigan's first individual cross country champion when she won the 1998 NCAA national cross country title in November. Toman helped the Wolverine men's gymnastics team to the national title, then won the individual parallel bars championship at the April NCAA National Championships.
The Michigan Athletes of the Year are nominees for the Big Ten Conference Jesse Owens (male) and Suzy Favor (female) Athlete of the Year awards.
Katie McGregor (Women's Cross Country, Track and Field)
Katie McGregor's final year as a University of Michigan student-athlete could not have been scripted better. The two-sport student-athlete won the prestigious Honda Award in cross country, ran to medalist honors at the national cross country championships, gathered All-America accolades in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, and helped Michigan to a Big Ten indoor track and field championship. McGregor is also the Michigan nominee for the 1998-99 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
En route to receiving the prestigious Honda Award for cross country, McGregor, Michigan's most decorated female distance runner, achieving what no other Wolverine had before her. McGregor won the 1998 NCAA national cross country individual title (16:47.21) and repeated as the Big Ten Conference individual champion (17:16). Her 1998 Great Lakes Regional cross country title (17:02.39) gave her a clean sweep of the 1999 postseason races.
As recipient of the Honda Award for cross country, McGregor is one of 11 women student-athletes chosen as the best in their respective sports and is a candidate for the 1998-99 Honda Broderick Cup. The prestigious award honors the nation's top female athlete.
During her junior and senior years of cross country, McGregor never placed lower than fifth in 16 meets, winning 11 titles in those two seasons. She won seven of the eight meets entered as a senior in 1998, winning individual titles at the Sycamore Classic, Bowling Green Invitational, Sundodger Invitational, Michigan Intercollegiate Championship, Big Ten Championship, Great Lakes Regional Championship and NCAA National Championship.
McGregor capped off one of the most successful individual track careers in Wolverine history during the 1999 season. Competing primarily in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs as well as with the distance medley relay team, the versatile McGregor helped Michigan to a third straight Big Ten track and field crown, including its second consecutive indoor title. She was runner-up in the 5,000 (16:40.22) and third in the 3,000 (9:32.01) at the indoor meet. McGregor went on to compete in the distance medley relay and 3,000-meter run at the 1999 NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships, earning her fifth track and field All-America citation as a member of the seventh-place distance medley relay squad (11:18.12).
In the outdoor campaign, McGregor capped off a brilliant Big Ten career by winning the 5,000-meter Big Ten title (16:32.83). McGregor helped push the Wolverines to a top-20 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a third-place finish in the 5,000 (16:15.75).
In four years of cross country and track and field, McGregor is a three-time NCAA champion, eight-time NCAA All-American and three-time Big Ten Conference champion, and she holds the NCAA indoor championship record in the distance medley relay. Her six NCAA All-America honors in track ties her for the most garnered by a female Wolverine runner.
Justin Toman (Men's Gymnastics)
As a sophomore co-captain for the University of Michigan men's gymnastics team, Justin Toman led the Wolverines to their first NCAA national team title in 29 years behind his individual championship performance on the parallel bars.
At the NCAA National Men's Gymnastics Championships, Toman became Michigan's 21st men's gymnastics individual event titlist when he won the parallel bars competition during the Individual Finals. Toman scored a 9.8375 for the national event championship. He added a third-place finish on the high bar (9.775) and a fifth on the pommel horse (9.6625) during the individual competition to claim three NCAA All-America citations. Earlier in the national team competition, Toman scored a career-high 58.075 in the all-around for his fourth NCAA All-America award of the 1999 season. It is the most All-America citations claimed by a Wolverine in one season, and one shy of the Michigan career men's gymnastics All-America award count.
Toman successfully defended his Big Ten Conference parallel bars title, scoring a career-high 9.925, which included a perfect 10.0 score from one of the six judges. Toman's back-to-back conference parallel bars titles make him the first person to repeat as champion in the event since 1984. Toman also won the floor exercise at the Big Ten Championships, using his top-level finishes to help Michigan win its first conference team championship since 1975.
Outside the gym, Toman earned Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors along with Michigan Athletic Academic Achievement accolades as a student in the University's Division of Kinesiology.
Toman represents both the University of Michigan and Big Ten Conference in national and international competition during 1998-99. He holds a spot on the United States National Team and represents the U.S. internationally for the year. Toman was the sole U.S. competitor at the International Invitational in Acapulco, Mexico, where he finished as the bronze medalist on the still rings. Toman was selected to compete in Cuba and China but declined the invitations due to preparations for collegiate competitions.
Toman is one of five gymnasts selected from the 14 National Team members to represent the United States at the 1999 World University Games. He will travel to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to compete for the WUG title July 3-7.
Players Mentioned
