Track & Field Collects Two USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Honors

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Track & Field’s Handal Roban and assistant coach Ryan Foster have earned regional recognition from the USTFCCCA following sensational indoor seasons. Roban earns Mid-Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year honors while Foster takes home Mid-Atlantic Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year laurels.
 

Roban adds yet another accolade to his incredible freshman indoor season. He takes home Mid-Atlantic Region honors following his First-Team All-American performance at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships where he finished third overall in the 800-meter run.
 

Foster, in his second season as the middle-distance/distance coach at his alma mater, earns his first coaching award since arriving back in Happy Valley. Penn State middle-distance/distance women collected four medals at the 2023 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships under Foster’s guidance.
 
THE FOSTER FILE – RYAN FOSTER – MIDDLE-DISTANCE/DISTANCE ASSISTANT COACH
 

• In his second season as the middle-distance/distance coach at Penn State, Foster coached Hayley Kitching to Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, capping off a year where Nittany Lion women earned four medals at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, with two individual titles.
• Foster is no stranger to USTFCCCA honors, earning USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2017 and Atlantic Region Men’s Track & Field Assistant Coach of the year in 2018 at Division II Edinboro.
• During his time as a student-athlete at Penn State, Foster was a 3x All-American and a 3x Mid-Atlantic Regional Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

 
THE PHENOM – HANDAL ROBAN – MIDDLE-DISTANCE
 

• Fresh off earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, Roban adds yet another award to his list of accolades.
• He becomes Penn State’s first Mid-Atlantic Indoor Track Athlete of the Year since Sincere Rhea in 2021.
• Since 2009, Nittany Lion men have earned the honor in 10 out of 15 years.
• Roban earned First-Team All-American honors for his third-place standing in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division I Indoor National Championships.
• FINISHED as the No. 1 freshman in the country, posting a 1:47.28 in the championship finals.
• Became the seventh indoor 800-meter First Team All-American (eight instances) in Penn State history and the…