April 23, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) - Florida State's Charles Clark and Virginia Tech's Queen Harrison have been selected as the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track Athletes of the Year, respectively, as determined by a vote of the league's 12 head coaches.

Clark, a junior sprinter from Virginia Beach, Va., won triple-gold at the ACC Championships last week after taking wins in the 200m (20.58), 4x100m Relay (39.55) and 4x400m Relay (3:06.99). The Seminole posted regional marks in all three events as he led Florida State to its third consecutive league title with a shared crown with Virginia.

Virginia Tech's Harrison, a junior from Richmond, Va., scored double-gold in the 100m and 400m hurdles events. Her victories marked her third career league gold medal. Harrison posted a time of 12.96 in the prelims of the 100m hurdles and 56.03 in the 400m hurdles.

Winning this year's Field Performer of the Year awards are Georgia Tech's Steve Marcelle and Florida State's Kim Williams. Marcelle is a junior thrower from Green Bay, Wisconsin won the shot put (18.35m) and placed second in the discus (57.44m). FSU's Williams won both the Long Jump and Triple Jump with regional qualification marks of 6.51m and 13.63m, respectively. Williams also set a new ACC meet record in the Triple Jump.

Florida State's Maurice Mitchell and Virginia Tech's Will Mulherin each earned Men's Co-Freshman of the Year while Virginia's Morgane Gay was named Women's Freshman of the Year. Mitchell, a freshman from Kansas City, Missouri clocked in for third place in the 200m (20.90) and was a part of FSU's winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams (39.55, 3:06.99). Mulherin, a Yorktown, Va. native, scored first place in the 5,000m with a time of 14:15.54. Gay hails from Bethesda, Maryland and finished third in the 1500m (4:22.43) and recorded a sixth place finish in the 800m (2:10.26).

Virginia's Jason Vigilante won the Men's Coach of the Year in his first season in charge of the Cavaliers. Vigilante's squad won its first league crown in a shared title with Florida State. Florida State's Bob Braman earned Women's Coach of the Year for the first time in his career as his Seminoles won their second league title and first since 2000.

MEN'S AWARDS:
Track Performer of the Year: Charles Clark, Florida State
Field Performer of the Year: Steve Marcelle, Georgia Tech
Freshman of the Year: Maurice Mitchell, Florida State & Will Mulherin, Virginia Tech
Coach of the Year: Jason Vigilante, Virginia

WOMEN'S AWARDS:
Track Performer of the Year: Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech
Field Performer of the Year: Kim Williams, Florida State
Freshman of the Year: Morgane Gay, Virginia
Coach of the Year: Bob Braman, Florida State