Jimmy O'Brien and Jason Maus earn Great Lakes Region recognition for Outdoor Track & Field

Jimmy O'Brien / Jason Maus

By Steven Wright

ADA — Senior three-time national champion and eight-time All-American Jimmy O'Brien has been named the Great Lakes Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year for outdoor track, while assistant coach Jason Maus has been named the Great Lakes Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.

O'Brien also earned the same award for indoor track earlier in the season as well as last season.

During the 2009 outdoor track season, O'Brien claimed the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship in both the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs. He was also the anchor for the OAC runner-up 4x400-meter relay team.

He will be competing in all three events this weekend at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships this Thursday-Saturday at Marietta.

His 800-meter time of 1:48.68 is the fastest qualifying time in Division III heading into the championship meet, while his time of 3:49.90 in the 1,500-meter run is the fourth fastest time in the country.

Through his illustrious four-year career, O'Brien has also claimed 18 OAC Titles and has been named OAC Runner of the Week 11 times.

With Maus focusing primarily on the distance team, ONU swept both the indoor and outdoor team titles in the OAC this season.

His athletes won the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run, 5,000-meter run and 10,000-meter run at the OAC Championships to guide the Polar Bears to their first-ever outdoor title.

ONU distance runners turned in three NCAA automatic or provisional marks during this outdoor season.