UMass Lowell junior Antoinette Toussaint (Somerville, Mass.), head coach Gary Gardner and assistant Mike Ekstrand were each honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Thursday on the eve of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championship.

Toussaint was named the East Region Field Athlete of the Year while Gardner was named the East Region Women's Coach of the Year and Ekstrand, UMass Lowell's sprint coach, the East Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.

The honor marked a first for Toussaint, who will represent UMass Lowell in the pentathlon with the eighth-seed, and the long jump with the 13^th seed at the NCAAs. Gardner was cited with the honor for the fifth time in seven years between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Ekstrand earned the USTFCCCA plaudit for the fourth time in seven years.

Gardner and Ekstrand have guided five individuals and four relay teams to this weekend's NCAA Championship, UMass Lowell's largest contingent ever.

The honors come as the result of a stellar season for the River Hawk women, who captured the Northeast-10 Conference Championship and placed sixth among 34 NCAA Division I, II and III teams at the New England Championships two weeks ago.

Toussaint highlighted her season so far with her effort at the NE-10 Championship, at which she was named the Athlete of the Meet in scoring 32 of UMass Lowell's 216 points en route to its fourth indoor title in five years.

She carried on the next week at the New England Championship, earning All-New England honors in three events: She placed third in the long jump with a season-best 18 feet, 11.25 inches; fifth in the 500 meters (1:14.68) and ran a 2:19.00 leg on the 4X800 meter relay team which took fourth in a school-record 9:16.13.

Toussaint booked her place in the NCAAs in the pentathlon when she placed second at the Harvard Challenge with 3,547 points on Jan. 18.

“Antoinette has been the backbone of our NE-10 Championship teams for the past two years,” said Gardner. “She is truly an incredible athlete with her versatility. We count on her to do so much for the team and she embraces it.”

Ekstrand, a Chelmsford native in his 17^th season with UMass Lowell, has developed 23 men and women and 20 relay teams into All-Americans. Both the River Hawk women's and men's 4X400 meter relay teams will compete for the NCAA title Saturday night, the women seeded fourth and the men sixth.

“Mike has been a huge part of the program for the last 17 years,” Gardner noted. “He is truly one of the best sprint coaches in the country. For him to recognized not just by our staff but from other programs in the East Region is tremendous.”

Gardner is a native of North Attleboro, Mass. He and his wife, Caitlin, live in Auburn, Mass., with their sons Kiernan (7) and Cavan (4).