GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference recognized individual award winners for the 2019 Outdoor Track and Field season on Monday.
Florida State leads all schools with three honorees, as voted upon by the league’s head coaches. Two each have been recognized from Notre Dame and Virginia in addition to one from Pitt.
The list of conference award winners includes one NCAA champion, five NCAA medalists and six All-Americans.
NCAA 1,500 meters champion Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame was chosen the ACC Men’s Track Performer of the Year. Irish senior Jessica Harris, who placed third nationally in the 1,500 on the women’s side, was voted the ACC Women’s Track Performer of the Year.
A pair of NCAA silver medalists claimed league Field Performer Year honors – ACC men’s triple jump record-holder Jordan Scott of Virginia and women’s discus standout Shanice Love of Florida State.
FSU’s Bryand Rincher was voted ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year after earning two first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Pitt second-team All-American Sydni Townsend earned the nod as ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year.
Virginia’s Bryan Fetzer was voted the ACC Men’s Coach of the Year, and Florida State’s Bob Braman is the ACC Women’s Coach of the Year.
Notre Dame’s Nuguse claimed the NCAA 1,500 men’s title in thrilling fashion, forging ahead on the final straightaway to win in a photo finish. The Louisville, Kentucky, sophomore registered a winning time of 3:41.39. The NCAA gold medal followed his first-place time in NCAA Regional qualifying two weeks earlier. Nuguse also took the men’s 1,500 men’s gold medal at the ACC Championships in 3:41.34, and his top regular-season time of 3:38.32 ranked third nationally.
Harris saved her season’s best performance in the women’s 1,500 for the NCAA finals, where she took the bronze medal in 4:11.96. Her winning time was a shade better than her NCAA Regional top finish of 4:12.64, as well as her time of 4:13.04 that ranked second nationally at the conclusion of the regular season. The graduate student from Cockeysville, Maryland, capped a memorial academic year in which she also claimed All-America honors with a personal best time in the NCAA Cross Country Championships and earned second-team All-ACC Outdoor honors in both the 800 and 5,000 meter races.
With his silver medal in the NCAA men’s triple jump, Virginia’s Scott capped a season in which he twice set ACC records with jumps of more than 17 meters. The Portmore, Jamaica, junior entered the ACC Championships on May 11 as the conference record-holder with a regular-season jump of 17.07m. He topped his own mark at 17.08m in the ACC finals, and then added a wind-assisted jump of 17.37m. Scott – who also holds the ACC indoor triple jump record and won the NCAA indoor championship in March – exceeded 17 meters for the fourth time during outdoor season at the NCAA finals with his second-place jump of 17.01m. Scott also claimed the gold medal in the long jump at the ACC finals.
Florida State’s Love fell just short of the ACC record with her silver medal throw of 62.69 meters in the NCAA women’s discus finals, capping a junior season of consistent excellence. After taking the gold medal at the ACC Championships with her throw of 58.83m, the native of Kingston, Jamaica, led the field in NCAA Regional competition at 61.04 meters. Her top effort at the NCAA Championships capped a series which included all six throws over 60 meters and delivered the Seminoles eight key points on the final day of the meet.
The Seminoles’ Rincher swept ACC Track and Field Men’s Freshman of the Year honors after also being recognized at the conclusion on Indoor season. Rincher took fifth place in the men’s 100 meters with a time of 10.6 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that also set the Haitian national record. In addition, Rincher ran the first leg on Florida State’s 4x100 relay team. He was part of a foursome that topped the previous ACC record twice during NCAA finals competition, including a blazing time of 38.08 that produced a silver medal.
Pitt’s Townsend made an immediate impact in her first collegiate season, earning second-team all-conference honors in two events at the ACC Championships. Along with her fourth-place time of 56.76 in the women’s 400 hurdles, Townsend was part of the Panthers’ 4x400 relay team that placed third with a time of 3:38.18. The Philadelphia native then became the first Pitt female hurdler since Julianna Reed in 2006 to earn Outdoor All-American honors as she finished in 14th place in the NCAA finals with her time of 57.92. Townsend also became the first Pitt athlete overall since 2017 to earn the national recognition.
Fetzer, in his eighth season as Virginia head coach, led his men’s team to a top-20 finish in NCAA competition for the fourth time in five years. The Cavaliers amassed 16 points at the NCAA Championships to finish in 18th place. Virginia was ranked among the USTFCCCA national top 25 throughout the regular season, including an ACC-best No. 12 following NCAA prelims on May 27. Virginia placed second in the ACC Men’s Championship, six points behind first-place Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers won six individual ACC titles, the most in program history, and 16 All-ACC honors over the course of the three-day meet.
Braman guided Florida State to the ACC Women’s Championship and a tie for 10th place at the NCAA finals. Led by Love’s effort in the discus and an ACC record-setting 4x100 relay team, the Seminoles tallied 20 points at the NCAA Championships. FSU’s 20-point team total ranked as the program’s sixth-most since the NCAA went to its current scoring model in 1985. The 2019 ACC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year recognition is the second of the 2018-19 academic year for Braman, who was voted Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year by his peers in March. Braman owns 24 total ACC Coach of the Year awards in Men’s Outdoor Track and Field, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field, and Men’s Cross Country.
