Women's Outdoor Track and Field | 3/29/2017 1:56:00 PM

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Head coach Bernie Empie of the Bloomsburg University cross country and track and field teams has been named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon. The major award winners are voted on the league coaches.

It marks the first-ever Coach of the Year honor for Empie and marks the first time in Bloomsburg University women's indoor track and field history that the team earned a major postseason honor from the conference. Slippery Rock's John Papa and Shippensburg's Dave Osanitsch had combined to win every Coach of the Year Award, on the women's side, since the 2005-06 season.

Empie, who took over the program in the 2009-10 season, guided the Huskies to the program's highest-ever finish and the program's highest-ever point total at the 2017 PSAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Edinboro University, last month. Bloomsburg finished second overall in the team standings with 111 total points and was behind only Shippensburg University by a mere four points in the overall team standings to earn the conference's runner-up trophy. The Huskies shattered the program's previous best point total of 71 points at the 2016 indoor championships.

The Huskies also had two individual champions at the conference meet - the 10th and 11th individual champions that Empie has guided since taking over the reins of the program. Prior to Empie's arrival, the program had only 10 conference champions since the program's inception.

Sophomore Kirsten O'Malley (Montoursville, PA/Montoursville Area) and junior Hannah Boudreau (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) claimed individual titles in the 400-meter dash and the 3000-meter run, respectively, at the PSAC Championships. The duo became individual conference champions for the first time in their collegiate careers. During the meet, Bloomsburg also broke three school records - senior Alyssa Barthelmes (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst) (200-meter dash), senior Teresa Ortiz (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) (mile), and the 4x400-meter relay team of junior Sarah Gottschalk (Lancaster/Manheim Township), junior Lauren Rivera (Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist), Barthelmes, and O'Malley.

Meanwhile, senior Kaylee Caruso (Montoursville/Montoursville) qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the long jump - Empie's ninth NCAA qualifier in his eight seasons as the head coach.

The All-Conference teams were also announced and were awarded to the top three finishers in each event at the PSAC Championships. The Huskies garnered 17 All-Conference selections based on their performances at the conference championships. Those honorees are as follows:

200-meter dash - Alyssa Barthelmes (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst) (2nd)
400-meter dash - Kirsten O'Malley (Montoursville, PA/Montoursville Area) (1st), Alyssa Barthelmes (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst) (2nd)
3000-meter run - Hannah Boudreau (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) (1st), Teresa Ortiz (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) (3rd)
5000-meter run - Hannah Boudreau (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) (3rd)
4x400-meter relay - Sarah Gottschalk (Lancaster/Manheim Township), Lauren Rivera (Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist), Alyssa Barthelmes (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst), Kirsten O'Malley (Montoursville, PA/Montoursville Area) (2nd)
Distance medley relay - Sarah Gottschalk (Lancaster/Manheim Township), Amber Csrenko (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus), Madison Mimnaugh (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Pittston Area), Jessica Quesenberry (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) (3rd)
High jump - Joselyn Estrada Pascual (Milton/Milton) (3rd)
Long jump - Kaylee Caruso (Montoursville/Montoursville) (2nd), Kirsten O'Malley (Montoursville, PA/Montoursville Area) (3rd)

O'Malley and Barthelmes were each three-time All-Conference selections while Boudreau and Gottschalk were two-time recipients.