USTFCCCA Regional Honors Go to Rice Pair Van der Westhuizen, Christensen
Date Published
At Houston's Rice University, track and field closed the spring with two more headline-worthy honors. Rice athletes Mia van der Westhuizen and Jerry Christensen earned USTFCCCA regional awards, giving the Owls another strong marker of national respect after a standout season in South Main.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association hands out these awards to top performers and coaches across each region. For Rice, the recognition puts both an athlete and a coach in the spotlight at the same time, which says plenty about the strength of the program right now.
Rice regional honors add to a strong season
Van der Westhuizen collected one of the region's top individual honors after delivering the kind of season that pushed her beyond conference-level attention. The award places her among the best athletes in the region, a big achievement for a program that keeps building its profile in collegiate track and field.
Christensen earned regional coaching recognition, another sign that Rice's results this year were no fluke. Coaching awards at this level usually reflect more than one strong weekend. They point to roster development, event preparation, and performances that stack up across the full season.
That combination matters for Rice. Athlete awards bring visibility. Coaching honors show the structure behind the results. Put them together, and the Owls have a clear case that their program produced impact at multiple levels this year.
Why the USTFCCCA honor matters for Rice track and field
Regional recognition from the USTFCCCA carries weight because it comes from the national coaches association for the sport. These awards are not local participation trophies. They reflect how a season measured up against programs across a broad geographic field.
For Rice, that matters beyond a single press release. Awards like this help frame the program's season in national terms, and they give the university another recruiting point as it competes for talent. The honors also reinforce Rice's standing inside the conference and across the college track landscape.
Rice athletics now heads into the offseason with fresh momentum attached to its track and field program. Van der Westhuizen's award and Christensen's coaching honor give the Owls a strong finish to this chapter, while the next season will determine how far that momentum carries once competition returns to campus.
This article is a summary of reporting by Rice University Athletics. Read the full story here.