National gold medalists, conference champions highlight head coaches’ selections
 
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – NCAA gold medalists Justyn Knight of Syracuse and Nicole Greene of North Carolina highlight the Atlantic Coast Conference’s major award recipients for the 2017-18 Indoor Track and Field Season.
 
The accolades, announced Friday morning, were determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches.
 
Knight was was voted the ACC Men’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year for the second consecutive year, while Greene claimed Women’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year honors.
 
NC State’s Josh Davis was voted the ACC Men’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year, while Wolfpack sophomore Elly Henes was selected the Women’s Track Indoor Performer of the Year.
 
Florida State’s Trey Cunningham was voted the ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year for the indoor season, while Virginia Tech’s Lisa Gunnarsson was tabbed as Women’s Freshman of the Year.
                                                                                                                             
Florida State’s Bob Braman earned both ACC Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Seminoles to a sweep of the league team titles during last month’s ACC Indoor Championships at Clemson.
 
Knight captured the gold medal in the men’s 5,000-meters and took the silver in the 3,000-meters at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships held last weekend at College Station, Texas. The Bowerman Watch List candidate logged a winning time of 14:14.47 in the 5,000m on Friday evening and added his runner-up finish of 8:05.76 in the 3,000m less than 24 hours later. The showing came two weeks after the Vaughan, Ontario, senior’s double-gold medal showing at the ACC Championships, where he led the 5,000-meters with a time of 13:50.79 and took the 3,000 with a time of 8:02.57.
 
Knight, who held top-four national times in the 5K, 3K and mile throughout the indoor season, continued a stellar collegiate career that also includes the gold medal from last fall’s NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championship. He enters his final outdoor season as a 10-time USTFCCCA All-American, nine as a first-team honoree. Knight earned USTFCCCA Northeast Region Performer of the Year for the third-straight indoor season, and his 15 conference titles (10 individual and five team) make him one of the most decorated athletes in ACC history as well.
 
After achieving personal women’s high jump bests of 6-2 (1.88m) three times during the indoor season, North Carolina’s Greene nearly reached that height again with her effort of 6-1.5 (1.87m) at the NCAA finals. That earned the Tar Heel junior a spot in a championship jump off, which went an unprecedented seven rounds before Greene emerged as the gold medalist.
 
Greene’s winning jump off effort measured 5-11.5 (1.82m) – below her personal best but of greater difficulty given her level of fatigue – and made her the second Tar Heel to take home the NCAA title in the women’s high jump since Sheena Gordon won it in 2006. She became the program’s first national champion since 2007. The NCAA title followed Greene’s gold medal at the ACC Championships, where the Ponte Vedra, Florida, native registered one of her career-best matching marks and just missed on an attempt to clear what would have been an ACC-record 6-3.25 (1.91m).


 
NC State’s Davis capped a record-setting season with a bronze medal in the men’s weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  Davis's best mark of the day came on his penultimate attempt with a 75-3.25 (22.94m) throw. His top-three NCAA finish was the highest in school history in the weight throw, besting the record he already held after placing fifth at the meet in 2017. Davis finished on the podium in all nine meets in which he competed during the 2017-18 indoor season. 
 
Davis boasted an eye-opening season resume even before the NCAAs, twice earning National Athlete of the Week honors from the USTFCCCA, along with Southeast Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year accolades. The Pelham, North Carolina, redshirt senior hit a mark of of 78-2.25 (23.83m) in the ACC Championships that stands as the new overall conference record and led all Division I throwers heading into the NCAA finals.
 
NC State’s Henes claimed the gold medal in the women’s 3,000-meters with a winning time of 9:18.67 at the ACC Championships, and then earned first-team All-America honors in the 5,000-meters with a seventh-place time of 16:00.80 at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Henes, a Cary, North Carolina native who also earned Cross Country All-America honors last fall, set the NC State program record during the regular season with a 5,000-meters time of 15:43.84 (15:36.67 converted) that ranked third nationally. Henes’ top time of 9:07.93 in the 3,000-meters also ranked among the top 25 in the nation.


 
Florida State’s Cunningham took the gold medal in the men’s 60-meter hurdles at the ACC Championships with a time of 7.70. The Winfield, Alabama, native followed with a sixth-place finish of 7.74 in the NCAA Championships that netted first-team All-America honors and stood as the fastest time in the event by a freshman.
 
Cunningham’s dash over five barriers at the NCAAs also extended an impressive run by FSU indoor hurdlers. All-time, the Seminoles have qualified 10 hurdlers for the indoor championships, and Cunningham extended the streak to 10 scoring finalists. 

Virginia Tech’s Gunnarsson ranked among the top five nationally in the pole vault throughout the regular season at 14-7.5 (4.46m), and then claimed the top spot at the ACC Championships with a mark of 14-3.25 (4.35m). The Stockholm, Sweden, freshman became the first Virginia Tech female to win the pole vault since Martina Schultz swept the indoor and outdoor crowns in 2014.

Gunnarsson went on to excel at the NCAA Championships, snaring fourth place with her vault of 14-5.5 (4.41m) that earned first-team All-America honors and helped the Hokie women to a 14th-place team finish.

Florida State’s Braman guided both men’s and women’s teams to ACC Indoor Championships in the same year for just the sixth time in league history – three of which have come under his watch. The Seminoles joined Clemson (1992), North Carolina (1995 and 1996) and Florida State (2009 and 2014) as the ACC Indoor Championships’ double winners.

The Seminoles, whose men were ranked No. 7 in the nation and women No. 25 heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships, combined for seven first-team All-America honors. The Florida State men recorded their highest team score at the NCAA Championships since 2014, and the women placed their highest since 2015.

The ACC honors are the 21st overall 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.

ACC Men’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year – Justyn Knight, Syracuse
ACC Women’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year – Elly Henes, NC State
ACC Men’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year – Josh Davis, NC State
ACC Women’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year – Nicole Greene, North Carolina
ACC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year – Trey Cunningham, Florida State
ACC Women’s Indoor Freshman of the Year – Lisa Gunnarsson, Virginia Tech
ACC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year – Bob Braman, Florida State
ACC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year – Bob Braman, Florida State