Lubbock, TX – Sophomore Tate Joens (Cedar Rapids, IA/Cedar Rapids Prairie) has been named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, announced Friday at the 2025 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Joens' honor adds to a length list of accolades for the sophomore All-American for the Warriors. Following the conclusion of the NJCAA Region 11 Championships, Joens was tapped as the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. Joens becomes the first Indian Hills student-athlete to earn USTFCCCA Field Athlete of the Year honors.
Joens took home two individual titles at the NJCAA Region 11 Indoor Track & Field Championships in Storm Lake, IA over the weekend. Joens has now captured back-to-back indoor field athlete of the year honors along with the outdoor honor as a freshman.
Joens, the reigning ICCAC Athlete of the Week, put together one of the most dominant performances in school history with a pair of individual region championships. Joens captured both the shot put and weight throw titles for his third and fourth career individual championships.
Competing at Buena Vista University for the indoor championships, Joens shattered the meet record in the men's shot put with a personal-best mark of 18.04 meters, more than a half meter improvement from his previous top performance to clinch the title. Joens tossed a mark of 18.99 meters in the weight throw to sweep the two events for the Warriors.
The sophomore currently owns three school records, including the program's top indoor shot put and weight throw marks. A three-time NJCAA All-American, including a two-time national runner-up, Joens owns four total region championships after capturing the 2025 indoor men's weight throw and 2025 outdoor hammer throw titles.
Along with Joens' field honor, teammate Raynier Galvez (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County) has been named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region TrackField Athlete of the Year while head coach Brent Ewing was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
Read More: Galvez Named USTFCCCA Midwest Track Athlete of the Year
Read More: Ewing Named USTFCCCA Midwest Coach of the Year
Galvez and the Warriors are underway at the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Lubbock, TX on Friday with finals set for Saturday afternoon. Galvez will compete in the 600m run at The Sports Performance Center.
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