NEW ORLEANS, La. --- Tusculum University senior sprinter Widchard Guervil has been named the 2022 Division II Southeast Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year for the 2022 NCAA indoor track & field season, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has announced.
Tusculum assistant coach Robert T. Williams was also honored by being named the Southeast Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the Pioneer sprinters, who were in the top 10 for most of the season in the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings.
Voting on the awards was conducted by USTFCCCA member coaches following the conclusion of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championship. Performances from the regular season, conference championships and nationals were considered in the voting.
Guervil is now a two-time Southeast Region Track Athlete of the Year, after first earning the honor following the 2018 outdoor season. He is the second Tusculum athlete to earn indoor Region Athlete of the Year, joining Nicole McMillen who was selected the 2020 Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
The Fort Myers, Florida native earned two All-America honors at the 2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Championship, finishing fourth in the 60 meters and seventh in the 200 meters to singlehandedly help the Pioneers finish in a tie for 30th overall as the top-scoring team from the Southeast Region with seven points.
Guervil won three gold medals at the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship, placing first in the 60, 200 and 4x400 relay en route to earning Outstanding Men's Track Athlete of the Meet honors. Guervil finished first in his heat in the 60 meters in 12 of his 13 races this year, and was first in 19 of his 23 heats during the year.
Guervil is a five-time indoor All-American, having finished fourth in the 60 meters in both 2018 and 2022 and seventh in the 200 this year. Guervil was also slated to run in the 60 and the 200 at the 2020 Indoor Track & Field Championship, but the meet was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and all entrants were given All-America status. Guervil earned All-America status in outdoor track at the 2018 NCAA Championship, where he was eighth in the 100 meters.
Guervil ends his Tusculum indoor career holding the 10 fastest times in program history in the 60 meters, with a record of 6.67 seconds set at the 2018 NCAA Championship. He also has the eight fastest indoor times in the 200 meters, twice running 21.13 seconds in February of this season, and is part of the four fastest 4x400-meter relays in school history.
Williams guided the Tusculum sprinters to as high as fifth in Division II in the men's 60 meters and seventh in the men's 200 meters during the 2022 season, according to the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings. The Event Squad rankings rate teams based on the cumulative season-best marks for a school's top four athletes in an event.
In addition to Guervil, Williams coached junior Zackary Nelson to a spot in the NCAA Division II Championships. Nelson finished 15th at nationals after winning two gold medals at the SAC Championship. Nelson took gold in the 400 at the SAC Championship and ran with Guervil in the winning 4x400-meter relay at the conference meet.
Tusculum won four golds in men's sprints and relays at the SAC Championship, and had three other sprinters score points as Tusculum accumulated 53 points from its sprint team at the conference meet.
Williams is in his second season at Tusculum as an assistant to head coach Cory Pratt following a decorated career coaching at the high school and club levels. Seven of Tusculum's top 10 runners in the 60 and 200 and six of the top 10 in the 400 have been coached by Williams.
