Hoover grad Ashley Muffet Duncan is honored as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Ashley Muffet Duncan — a former state champion thrower at Hoover High School — was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year for the Southeast Region. Muffet Duncan is in her second year as the throws coach at Western Kentucky.

Muffet Duncan’s throwers had a productive year for the Hilltoppers, as she guided Jessica Ramsey to qualification in three events for the NCAA national championships (shot put, discus and hammer) this week. Her throwers contributed 56 of the 173 points amassed by the team to secure the team title in the Sun Belt championship.

Ramsey, a senior, was named the Southeast Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. She won all three throws in the Sun Belt, and is one of just three women to have qualified to the NCAA championships in all three events.

Muffet Duncan was an 11-time All-SEC performer and a four-time All-American during her college throwing career at Kentucky.