NEW ORLEANS -- Last weekend Matt Wilkinson (Sr./Greenwood, Minn./Minnetonka) won two events at the NCAA Championships. This week, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) recognized him as both the National Men's Track Athlete of the Year and an Outstanding Performer of the Meet at the D-III Outdoor Championships.
 
At the 2021 NCAA Championships, Wilkinson won the steeplechase in 8:47.39, which would have been the seventh-fastest performance in NCAA D-III history had it not been for his 8:44.01 effort to win the same event at the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. His time two weeks earlier at the conference meet ranks third on the Division III all-time chart.
 
Wilkinson also won the 5000-mrter run at Nationals in 13:55.27, which missed the NCAA Championships meet record by only 0.27 seconds and left him with the fourth-fastest mark in NCAA D-III history. Earlier in the season, Wilkinson broke into the top-10 on the same chart with his time of 13:58.25 at the Rolex Classic.
 
This is the second time Wilkinson has been selected as a National Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA (see chart below). He was also the indoor track honoree during the 2020 season.
 
Additionally, each year the USTFCCCA honors the Outstanding Performers of the Meet at the NCAA D-III Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Winners are determined using a formula that adds together team points scored, plus meet records (five additional points), Division III seasonal bests set during the meet (three additional points), and facility records (one point).
 
Wilkinson and JP Vaught of Centre College were the co-Most Outstanding Men's Track Performers after both totaled 23 points using the above formula.
 
Wilkinson captured the first steeplechase-5000m sweep at the NCAA Championships since 2008 to account for 20 points. His other three points came from posting D-III's top steeplechase time of the season while racing at Nationals. Vaught completed the first 100m-200m sweep since 2014 and notched a seasonal best in the 100 at 10.51.

Carleton athletes to be selected USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year
2014   --   Amelia Campbell (indoor field)
2014   --   Amelia Campbell (outdoor field)
2016   --   Amelia Campbell (outdoor field)
2020   --   Matt Wilkinson (indoor track)
2021   --   Matt Wilkinson (outdoor track)