Robert Shankman has been named 2017 NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country South/Southeast Region Coach of the Year. Regional athletes and coaches of the year for the 2017 NCAA Division III Cross Country season were announced Nov. 14 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, as voted on by member coaches from that division.
The honor comes after the No. 19-ranked men’s cross country team placed second at the recent South/Southeast Region meet in Virginia, earning them an automatic bid to the national meet to be hosted by Principia College in Elsah, IL, Nov. 18. Senior Ashley Litoff of the women’s cross country team, also coached by Shankman, qualified individually for the national meet in October.
In addition to the NCAA Division III title, Shankman was named Southern Athletic Association’s (SAA) Men’s Coach of the Year, after Rhodes men's cross country team finished first at the SAA Championships in October with a new meet record of 17 points.
Shankman, who is in his 28th year at Rhodes and assistant director of athletics, is a graduate of the college, where he competed as a hurdler from 1977 to 1980.