NEW ORLEANS – Baldwin Wallace University Coordinator of Cross Country and Track and Field and Head Cross Country Coach Joe Eby has been named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region Women's Coach of the Year.

In his fourth year as head coach and first as the coordinator of the cross country and track and field programs, Eby led the Yellow Jackets to the school's first regional team title, men's or women's, as BW won the 2018 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday. Previously, the women's team had finished as high as second on four separate occasions: 1987, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

The Yellow Jackets beat out five separate nationally-ranked programs, including four-time defending Ohio Athletic Conference champion Otterbein University, for the team crown.

"I am beyond honored," Eby said. "I feel this should be a staff award. We have so many people behind the scenes that get our group ready to perform from assistants, medical, administrative, professors and support staff. This is a testament to all of their hard work."

By finishing as one of the top two teams in the Great Lakes Region, BW received an automatic bid to compete at the NCAA Championships, marking the first time the Yellow Jackets have returned to the national meet since 2009 and the eighth time in program history.

BW will conclude its season on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the 2018 NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin.