December
4, 2007
(release courtesy of Larry Happel, Central College sports information
director)
PELLA,
IOWA . . . Central College’s Jeff McMartin
has been named an American Football Coaches Association
Division III regional coach of the year.
He is among five regional honorees from the NCAA Division III
and is under consideration for national coach of the year recognition.
The regional winners will be honored at the AFCA convention
in Anaheim, Calif. Jan. 9.
Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley was a regional
winner in the Football Championship Subdivision. Other Division
III honorees are Bob Ritter of Middlebury (Vt.),
Mike Donnelly of Muhlenberg (Pa.), Pete
Fredenburg of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) and Larry
Kehres of Mount Union (Ohio). The awards are determined
by a vote of association members in their respective regions
and divisions.
Earlier McMartin received his third consecutive Iowa Conference
coach of the year award after piloting the Dutch to their third
straight title. Central posted an undefeated regular season
for the second year in a row and earned a third consecutive
NCAA Division III berth. The Dutch scored NCAA playoff victories
over Olivet (Mich.) and St. John’s (Minn.), advancing
to the quarterfinals before falling to Bethel (Minn.) Saturday
in Pella. Central closed with a 12-1 mark.
McMartin has posted a lofty 37-8 record (.822) in his four seasons
at Central, including a 31-4 mark (.885) over the past three
seasons. His teams have assembled a 27-game regular-season win
streak.
“This
is a well-deserved honor for Coach McMartin,” athletics
director Al Dorenkamp said. “We’ve
been on a remarkable journey the last 3 years and have won a
lot of close games. Great things happen when coaches and players
believe in each other and Coach McMartin has established that
in our program. It’s been fun watching our staff and players
grow and develop under Coach McMartin’s leadership.”
A Central graduate and a former Dutch player and student assistant,
McMartin was an assistant coach at DePauw (Ind.), Beloit (Wis.),
Rochester (N.Y.) and Illinois Wesleyan before returning to Central.
He was also a graduate assistant at Wake Forest (N.C.), where
he earned a master’s degree.
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