Five recognized from Florida State; four NCAA medalists honored

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Florida State leads the way with five Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field honorees for the 2018 season.
The list of conference awards, announced on Friday, features four NCAA medalists, six first-team All-Americans and a pair of Hall of Fame coaches.

Florida State junior Andre Ewers was selected as the ACC Men’s Track Performer of the Year in a vote of the league’s head coaches, while Louisville redshirt freshman Dorcas Wasike was recognized on the women’s side.

Seminole javelin thrower Lauri Paredes Meza was voted the ACC Women’s Field Performer of the Year, while Virginia Tech pole vaulter Torben Laidig took the men’s honor.

Florida State hurdler Trey Cunningham earned ACC Men’s Outdoor Freshman of the Year accolades after claiming the same honor during the indoor season. The Seminoles’ Ka’Tia Seymour was voted the ACC Women’s Outdoor Freshman of the Year.

Florida State’s Bob Braman and Miami’s Amy Deem were named the league’s Men’s and Women’s Coaches of the Year after each guided their team to a first-place finish in last month’s ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Coral Gables, Florida.

Florida State’s Ewers took home a silver medal in the men’s 200 meters and a bronze in the 100 meters in last weekend’s NCAA Division I Championships at Eugene, Oregon. His time of 20.29 in the 200 meters fell one one-hundredths of a second short of first place. The Lauderhill, Florida, native also anchored the fifth-place 4x100 relay team in contributing 15 of the 11th-place Seminoles’ 25 points at NCAAs.

Ewers had earlier earned ACC Championship Men’s Track MVP honors after racing to gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters to lead Florida State to the team title in last month’s meet at Coral Gables, Florida. Ewers posted a winning 100 meters time of 10.13 and soared to the front of the 200 meters field with a wind-aided time of 19.98.

Louisville’s Wasike finished runner-up in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships, more than holding her own in a race that saw six women top the previous meet record that had stood for 30 years. The redshirt freshman made her move in the final two laps, passing some of the event’s veteran runners.  She rolled in the final lap to pass the favorite Karissa Schwizer, closing with a 69.2 in the final lap.  Wasike finished with a personal best time of 32:11.81, behind Kansas’ Sharon Lokedi. 
 
A first-team All-American, Wasike won the 10,000 meters at the ACC Championships and the NCAA East Preliminary.  The Kenya native was also runner-up in the 5,000 meters, despite running the final 3000 meters minus one shoe.  Wasike set school records this season in the 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.  Earlier in the fall she became the first Louisville women’s All-American in cross country. 


 
Virginia Tech’s Laidig was part of a history-making trio at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, taking the bronze medal in the men’s pole vault with a mark of 5.55 meters (18-2.5). Laidig led three Hokies among the top eight, marking the first time in school history and the first time since 1985 that three pole vaulters from the same program earned first-team All-America honors at the NCAA finals.
 
Laidig had earlier taken the silver medal at the ACC Championships with his season-best vault of 5.60 meters. The native of Schwabish Hall, Germany will close his collegiate career as the ACC men’s pole vault co-record holder of 5.70 meters (which he first set last season) and a two-time NCAA outdoor medalist after taking the silver in 2016.

Florida State’s Paredes Meza unleashed an opening-round personal-best of 55.17 meters (181-0) in the women’s javelin throw at the NCAAs. Not only was it the top mark in her career-best series, setting her native Paraguay’s under-23 national record and breaking her own school record, it held up for a bronze medal at meet’s end.

Paredes Meza claimed the ACC Championship women’s javelin title with a winning throw of 53.81 meters, which stood as her season best until the standout NCAA performance. She was named the ACC Field Performer of the Week on March 27 following her throw of 53.50 meters (175-6) in her collegiate debut, which broke the then-Florida State school record that had stood since 1990.



As he did during the indoor season, the Seminoles’ Cunningham made the most of his chance to shine on the national stage. The Winfield, Alabama, freshman claimed a fourth-place finish in the 110 men’s high hurdles at the NCAA Championships, posting a time of 13.64.

Cunningham’s time was just short of his season-best of 13.57, which ranked ninth nationally entering the NCAAs. He had earlier taken the bronze medal at the ACC Championships with a time of 13.90. Cunningham’s NCAA finish marked the best by a Seminole in the 110 hurdles since two-time Olympian Arthur Blake was the runner-up in 1987.

Florida State’s Seymour broke her own ACC women’s record in the 100 meters with her gold medal time of 11.22 in the ACC Championship finals, then shattered that mark with her 11.13 during NCAA East Regional qualifying.

The Palatka, Florida, native earned first-team All-America honors in the women’s 200 meters with her fourth-place finish of 23.10 and was part of the 4x100 relay team that posted an eighth-place finish. Seymour also claimed second-team All-America recognition in the 100 meters with her wind-aided mark of 11.18.

Florida State’s Braman led his men’s program to its 12th ACC Outdoor Championship title and the 10th under his watch. The Seminoles won the ACC crown for the first time since claiming three consecutive outdoor titles from 2013 through 2015.  This year’s outdoor championship completed a sweep for the Florida State men, who also won the ACC Indoor Championship in February at Clemson.
 
The Seminoles’ 25 points at the NCAA Championships fell just one-point shy of a top-10 finish and nine points shy of the program’s first top-four podium finish since 2012.
 
The ACC honor is 22nd overall and the third this academic year for Braman, who has been named the ACC Coach of the Year in Men’s Outdoor Track and Field, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field, and Men’s Cross Country during his tenure in Tallahassee.

Miami’s Deem guided her youthful team to the ACC Women’s Outdoor Championship for the first time since the 2005 and 2006 squads claimed back-to-back titles. But the conference titles were the third in three seasons for the Hurricanes, who won the ACC Indoor Championship in both 2016 and 2017.

The Miami women were ranked as high as No. 15 nationally and earned nine USTFCCCA All-America honors.

Deem was recognized for the third time as the ACC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year and picked up her seventh conference coaching honor overall. In addition to being previously being named ACC Outdoor Women’s Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006, Deem earned the same honor for ACC Indoors in 2005, 2006, 2016 and 2017.

ACC Men’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Year – Andre Ewers, Florida State
ACC Women’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Year – Dorcas Wasike, Louisville
ACC Men’s Outdoor Field Performer of the Year – Torben Laidig, Virginia Tech
ACC Women’s Outdoor Field Performer of the Year – Lauri Paredes Meza, Florida State
ACC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year – Trey Cunningham, Florida State
ACC Women’s Outdoor Freshman of the Year – Ka’Tia Seymour, Florida State
ACC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year – Bob Braman, Florida State
ACC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year – Amy Deem, Miami