New league record-holder, top-five national competitors highlight list
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – A new conference record-holder and five other student-athletes who rank among the nation’s top five in their respective events comprise the Atlantic Coast Conference Track and Field Performers of the Week for April 3.
Syracuse’s Iliass Aouani is the Men’s Track and Field Co-Performer of the Week after posting an ACC and school record time in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Relays. He shares this week’s honor with Virginia Tech freshman Jacory Patterson, who owns the nation’s No. 2 time in the 400 meters.
The ACC Women’s Co-Track Performers of the Week also rank No. 2 nationally in their respective events, with Florida State sprinter Ka’Tia Seymour continuing to impress in the 100-meters dash and Syracuse distance runner Paige Stoner in the 10,000 meters.
North Carolina high jumper Nicole Greene earned her second ACC Women’s Field honor of the season after equaling the nation’s current No. 1 mark in the high jump. Clemson freshman Roje Stona is the Men’s Field Performer of the Week after his discus throw that ranked fourth nationally.
Aouani’s 10,000 meter race of 28:25.36 bested former Syracuse standout Martin Hehir’s prior mark of 28:27.70 – also set in Palo Alto – which had stood since April 3, 2015. The senior from Milan, Italy, set the new mark last Friday night amidst a 62-runner field that was filled with professionals and a number of fellow elite runners from ranked collegiate teams.
With his silver medal time of 45.76 in the 400 meters at the Florida Relays, Virginia Tech’s Patterson knocked almost a full second off Hillard Sumner’s previous school record (46.73) that had stood since 1996. It is the fourth school record that Patterson has broken in 2019 (Indoor 200, 300 and 400 in addition to the Outdoor 400). The Columbia, South Carolina, freshman ran a split of 45.37 as a member of Tech’s 4x400 relay team later in the day.
Syracuse’s Stoner turned in the second-fastest women’s 10,000 meters time in ACC history and the 12th-fastest in-season time in NCAA history with her 32:07.36 finish at the Stanford Invitational on Friday night. She shattered the Syracuse record and was under nine seconds off the ACC record in the event. Stoner now holds the Orange’s 3000-meter steeplechase, 5000 and 10,000-meter records at Syracuse.
Florida State’s Seymour, the ACC 100-meter dash record-holder, posted an all-conditions, lifetime-best of 11.08 (w +2.3) in a runner-up finish to NCAA leader Kayla White of North Carolina A&T (11.04) in Friday’s competition at the Pepsi Florida Relays. Seymour set the ACC record as a freshman at 11.13. She currently sits at No. 2 on the national descending order list. The Palatka, Florida, native came back on Saturday to anchor the Seminole women to a seventh-place overall finish in the 4x100 relay. Teaming with Karimah Davis, Shauna Helps and Cortney Jones, Seymour brought the baton home in 43.84. It was the fourth-fastest time of the meet by a collegiate team, ranks No. 9 nationally and is the eighth-fastest time in FSU history.
Competing in the Raleigh Relays, North Carolina’s Greene broke six feet in collegiate high jump competition for the first time with her mark of 6-0.75 (1.85 meters). The redshirt junior from Ponte Verda, Florida, now shares the No. 3 all-time mark at UNC with her current coach Nicole Hudson and is tied for the spot in the nation so far this outdoor season. Greene is off to the best start of her outdoor career with three consecutive wins by progressively better marks – 1.81m and 1.82m prior to last weekend.
In just his third collegiate meet, Clemson’s Stona achieved the nation’s No. 4 mark while winning the discus at the Florida Relays on Saturday. The Tiger freshman, who is now the ACC’s leader in the event by nearly six meters, threw for 61.22m (200-10), which is good for second all-time in Clemson history. Stona is on the heels of Clemson’s record holder Jack Harkness, who entering the weekend was the only Clemson discus thrower to clear 60 meters, dating back to 1982.