New Orleans, La. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's assistant track & field coach
Katie Wagner has been selected the 2026 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) North Region Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, the organization announced Thursday.
It marks Wagner's sixth career USTFCCCA North Region Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year honor, including second straight. She was also selected the 2023 and 2025 North Region Assistant Coach of the Year after securing the 2010, 2014 and 2015 Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
Wagner coached athletes to seven National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III All-America honors at this year's indoor championships, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The Eagles' 4x400-meter relay of
Anna Plautz,
Zoe Lain,
Macy Reybrock and
Andie Otto placed second with a school record time of 3:45.28. The relay broke their own school record of 3:45.33 set in the preliminaries.
Plautz earned individual All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a UWL record time of 55.45. She broke her own school record of 55.47 set earlier this season.
Her athletes scored 127 of a conference-record 328 points at the 2026 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Indoor Championships.
UWL topped the #EventSquad Rankings in the 60 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and 60-meter hurdles.
Wagner, in her 16th season as an assistant coach at UWL, oversees the Eagles' sprints, hurdles and relays. She is a three-time recipient of the USTFCCCA Outdoor Region Assistant Coach of the Year honor, earning the 2025 North Region award and 2014 and 2021 Midwest Region recognition.
Each of the 10 regions – East, Great Lakes, Metro, Mid-Atlantic, Mideast, Midwest, Niagara, North, South and West – honored both genders' top track and field athletes as well as the top men's and women's head and assistant coaches.
Award winners are determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches. Only those individuals from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.
