GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Conference record-holders, Bowerman candidates and regional award winners highlight the 2019-20 ACC Indoor Track and Field Performer of the Year honors announced on Wednesday.
ACC champion Florida State earned three of the men’s four major season awards in voting among the league’s head coaches with junior Trey Cunningham recognized as ACC Track Performer of the Year, Taylor Banks as Freshman of the Year and Bob Braman as Coach of the Year. Virginia senior Jordan Scott was honored as the ACC Men’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The ACC Women’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year award also featured a repeat winner in Florida State junior Ka’Tia Seymour. Miami junior Debbie Ajagbe was voted the Field Performer of the Year, while Virginia’s Jada Seaman was tabbed Freshman of the Year. Dave Cianelli of ACC champion Virginia Tech is the league’s Women’s Coach of the Year.
Florida State’s Cunningham (60-meter hurdles) and Virginia’s Scott (triple jump) both earned spots on The Bowerman Men’s Pre-NCAA Indoor Championship watch list after setting ACC records and ranking first nationally in their respective events.
Cunningham and Scott were also recognized as USTFCCCA Regional Athletes of the Year, along with Florida State’s Seymour on the women’s side. FSU’s Braman was named the South Regional Men’s Coach of the Year, and Cianelli was the Southeast Region Women’s Coach of the Year.
Cunningham, top-ranked nationally and unbeaten against collegiate competition in the 60-meter hurdles this season, became the first man to win three consecutive ACC hurdle titles. He broke his own conference championship record when he ran 7.60 in the final at Notre Dame on Feb. 29, helping the Seminoles to their third consecutive and 13th all-time team title. The Winfield, Alabama native’s lifetime-best time of 7.51 this season ties for the seventh-fastest in collegiate history and is both an ACC and Florida State record.
Virginia’s Scott earned his third ACC Field Performer of the Year honor a span of just more than 12 months after being recognized following both the Indoor and Outdoor seasons in 2019. While the cancellation of the NCAA finals left the Portmore, Jamaica, senior unable to defend his national title in the triple jump, he still made it a season to remember with his ACC record of 17.02 meters (55-10.25) that ranks No. 17 all-time. Scott posted the three best collegiate marks in the NCAA this season and six of the top seven. He also earned second-team All-ACC honors in the long jump.
Florida State’s Seymour continued her career reign over the ACC in short sprints, successfully defending both her 60- and 200-meter titles and anchoring the Seminoles’ third-place 4×400 relay at the ACC Championships. The Palatka, Florida, native set personal-bests and Notre Dame Loftus Center facility records in both short sprints, running 7.17 and 22.82, and became the first-ever woman to earn a third consecutive Indoor ACC Championship Track MVP trophy. Seymour also claimed ACC Outdoor Championship Track MVP honors in 2019.
Miami’s Ajagbe earned Women’s Field MVP honors at the ACC Championships after winning gold medals in both the weight throw and shot put in dramatic fashion. Ajagbe's ACC-meet record mark of 22.55m on her final attempt of the weight throw competition gave the Miami native her fourth conference medal and the first gold medal of her touted career. Ajagbe and ACC overall record-holder Rachel Tanczos of Notre Dame waged a back-and-forth battle for first place before the Hurricane junior delivered on her final attempt. Ajagbe won the shot put two days later in similar style, moving from seventh to first place with a lifetime-best throw of 16.80m in her final attempt.
Florida State’s Banks was part of a deep men’s sprint corps that led a balanced scoring attack at the ACC Championships. The Miramar, Florida, native posted a time of 6.61 in the 60 meters during the regular season that tied for 10th-best nationally. He earned second-team All-ACC honors in the 200 meters with a fifth-place time of 21.25 at the ACC Championships.
Virginia’s Seaman recorded a long jump mark of 6.46m (21-2.5) at the ACC Championships to win her first ACC title. Her career-best jump set a UVA record and ranked sixth in the NCAA this season. The Pikesville, Maryland, native also participated in the 200 meters for the Cavaliers and placed ninth at the ACCs.
Florida State’s Braman now owns 25 total ACC Coach of the Year awards in Men’s Track and Field, Women’s Track and Field, and Men’s Cross Country. His latest honor follows an ACC Championship in which the eighth-ranked Seminoles piled up 140 points to place 31 ahead of second-place Virginia Tech. The point total and margin of victory were the largest since the ACC expanded prior to the 2014 season. The men’s indoor title was Braman’s 11th at the FSU helm.
Cianelli earned his 14th overall ACC Coach of the Year award and was recognized as Indoor Women’s Coach of the Year for the third time. The USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honor is his 17th in his 19 years at Virginia Tech. The Hokies scored 105.5 points at the ACC Championships to finish 32.5 ahead of runner-up Miami. It marked the program’s third indoor league title and the first since winning back-to-back in 2007 and 2008.
