WINSTON SALEM, NC (February 12, 2023) - The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation's oldest historically Black athletic conference, announces its 2022-23 Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Year, as voted by the CIAA Track & Field Coaches Association and Sports Information Directors Association. Fayetteville State freshman Repline Cheptoo was named Women's Track Athlete of the Year and Bronco sophomore M'Smrya Seward was chosen as the Women's Field Athlete of the Year. Saint Augustine's freshman Terrell Robinson was named Men's Track Athlete of the Year and Lincoln (PA) University senior Glenn Butler Jr. was named Men's Field Athlete of the Year for a second consecutive year.

These premier student-athletes will be recognized today during Day 1 of the 2022-23 CIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC.

Cheptoo entered the championship meet as the CIAA's top women's runner in the mile with a time of 5:37 minutes at the Clemson Opener in South Carolina. In the conference, the Kapsabet, Rift Valley, Kenya native is second in the women's 800 meters run with a time of 2:24 minutes and second in the women's 3000 meters with a time of 11:08 minutes. Cheptoo is also a member of the Broncos' women's distance medley relay that ranks third in the league.

Seward has the top mark in the CIAA in the long jump (6.10m) and triple jump (11.95m), which she set at the Marlin Invitational on January 20. The Youngsville, NC native provisionally qualified for the NCAAs in both events and in Division II, she has the third-best performance with her 6.10m long jump and she is 15th with her 11.95m triple jump. Cheptoo, Seward, and the Broncos are seeking their third consecutive conference championship in indoor track & field.

Robinson is a top sprinter in the NCAA as his 6.66-second 60-meter dash is tops in the CIAA and second among all Division II student-athletes. That time in the 60-meters, which he set at the HBCU Showcase sponsored by KPMG on January 14, provisionally qualified him for the NCAAs. The Winston-Salem, NC native also leads the conference in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.9 seconds. Robinson is hoping to help guide the Falcons back to a conference championship after their streak of 23 consecutive titles was snapped last season.

Butler Jr. is the Atlantic Region's top performer in both the high jump (2.14m) and the long jump (7.60m). In Division II, he ranks fifth in the long jump and sixth in the high jump. The Greenburgh, NY native is the only student-athlete to qualify for the NCAAs in the high jump and he is one of two CIAA student-athletes to qualify in the long jump. He set his high jump mark at the HBCU Showcase sponsored by KPMG on January 14 and set his long jump mark at the Winter Classic on January 27. Butler Jr. was named the 2021-22 CIAA Field Athlete of the Year when he was an All-American, finishing as the conference's top performer and top three nationally in the long jump. 

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