DEFRAND NAMED ACC WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR seminoles.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from seminoles.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AUSTIN, Tex. Sophomore Caisa-Marie Lindfors capped a tremendous comeback season with a fourth place finish in the women’s discus with a throw of 59.32 meters. Lindfors battled injuries last year after earning Honorable Mention All-America honors at the 2021 NCAA Championships. She was the ACC Champion in the discus just a few weeks ago.
Freshman Dajaz DeFrand earned First-Team All-America honors as well after finishing eighth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.08. DeFrand, who was the ACC Indoor and Outdoor Women’s Track Most Valuable Performer, earned Second-Team All-America honors in both the 60 and 200 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
Alyson Churchill, a junior, earned Second-Team All-America honors in the 5000 meters with an 11th place finish in a time of 16:02.40.
Florida State closed out the track and field season with the men’s team finishing tied for 15th in the country and the women’s team at 37th.
FSU MEN EARN SIX ALL-AMERICA HONORS AT NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS seminoles.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from seminoles.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jacksonville, Fla. – The Florida State women’s track and field team closed out the 2023 NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday at Hodges Stadium. Caisa-Marie Lindfors, Alexandra Webster, Dajaz DeFrand, and Alyson Churchill will join Stella Weinberg at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas from June 7-10 following their performances on Saturday. “It was another really good night for the Noles,” FSU head coach Bob Braman said. “The ladies had bests by Daja, Alyson, and Alexis, and the 4x100 automatically qualified. Caisa got her ticket punched as well.” Just off her ACC title, Lindfors started off the day by finishing 12th in the discus, with a mark of 52.70, which she threw on her second attempt. The 4x100 relay claimed the final NCAA qualifying spot, finishing 12th at 44.34 behind Ava Klein, Kaniya Johnson, Tyra Wilson, and Faith Banks. Webster ran her personal best in the 100m hurdles, qualifying for her first NCAAs with a time of 13.00. Webster also competed in the 400m event, finishing 23rd (1:01.19). DeFrand led all freshmen in the 100m field, clocking her personal best at 11.05 for fourth place in order to qualify for nationals. DeFrand later placed 13th in the 200m at 23.08. Churchill ran the second-fastest time in Florida State history in the 5,000m, crossing the line at 15:33.83 for third. Amani Heaven also competed in discus with Lindfors, finishing 29th with a throw of 48.38. Kayla Pinkhard posted her season best in the triple jump at 12.91m on her last attempt for 20th place. Banks (54.64) placed 21st in the 400m and Emmy Van den Berg followed in 19th place at 16:11.58, which was her personal best. For more information on Florida State track and field, follow Twitter @FSU Track and Instagram @FSU Track.
Jacksonville, Fla. – The Florida State women’s track and field team began competing at the 2023 NCAA East Regional Championships at Hodges Stadium on Thursday. The Seminoles started the day with a big performance from freshman Stella Weinberg in the women’s javelin, where she qualified for the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Austin, Texas, June 7-10. On her third and final attempt, she threw a personal best of 51.16 to finish in sixth place, after entering the meet in 19th (49.35m), punching her ticking to the NCAA Championships in Austin. Weinberg’s mark of 51.16 now ranks sixth in FSU history. Florida State will have three athletes competing in quarterfinal events on Saturday, where the top 12 in each event will join Weinberg at the NCAA Championships. Dajaz DeFrand advanced in the 100m, after finishing 12th at 11.22. She later placed 16th in the 200m with a time of 23.01. Faith Banks moved on to the quarterfinals of the 400m, placing 22nd at 53.47. Alexandra Webster clocked her best time in the 100m hurdles, placing 11th with a time of 13.00, which is the fifth-fastest time in Florida State history. Webster later made the cut by placing 21st in the 400m hurdles, clocking 58.32. “It was a fantastic day for the ladies,” FSU head coach Bob Braman said. “Stella kicked it off for us and both Alexis and Daja qualified for Saturday in two events and Faith ran well to move on. Saturday will be big for us with the discus, triple jump, 5,000 meters and 4x100 relay to add to today’s successful crew.” The men’s team will be back in action on Friday, starting at 1 p.m. with Milton Ingram II in the men’s discus. For more information on Florida State track and field, follow Twitter @FSU Track and Instagram @FSU Track.
RALEIGH, N.C. Florida State men’s field specialist Jeremiah Davis and women’s sprinter Dajaz DeFrand were named the ACC Most Valuable Performers in their respective categories following the outdoor championships last week at NC State.
DeFrand, a freshman competing in her first outdoor conference meet, was the ACC Champion in both the 100 and 200 meters leading to her selection as the ACC Women’s Track Most Valuable Performer.
Davis, who is among the favorites for the NCAA Championship in both the long and triple jump, won the ACC title in the long jump and was second in the triple en route to being named the ACC Men’s Most Valuable Performer. Davis was also the MVP of the ACC Indoor Championships earlier this year.
The Seminoles took home seven individual ACC Championships over the three-day conference meet. In addition to the three won between the MVPs, Amir Willis was the ACC men’s 100 meter champion, Milton Ingraham won the discus, Alexandra Webster finished first in the 100 hurdles and Caisa-Marie Lindfors was the ACC Champion in the women’s discus.
In addition, FSU had six first team All-ACC performances with Ismael Kone earning the honor in the 100 meters, Amir Willis in the 200 meters, James Rivera in the 400 hurdles, Amani Heaven in the shot put, Jeremiah Davis in the triple jump and the men’s 4x100 relay team.
The Seminoles also had 10 second team All-ACC performances. On the women’s team, Alyson Churchill earned second team honors in the 1500 meters, Kayla Pickard in the triple jump and Stella Weinberg in the javelin. Ismael Kone earned second team distinction on the men’s team in the 200 meters as did Taylor Banks in the 100 meters, DaeQwan Butler in the 400 meters, David Mullarkey in the 5000 meters, Curtis Williams in the long jump and the 4x100 relay team.
The men’s team finished just one point away from repeating as ACC Outdoor Champions to finish in the second and the women finished fourth in the league.
Next up will be the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla. with the field to be announced later this week.
RALEIGH, N.C. The ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships came down to the final race to determine both the men’s and women’s champions. Florida State’s men held the slimmest of leads over Clemson with only the 4x400 relay left. Unfortunately, Head Coach Bob Braman wouldn’t have his normal relay team as injuries suffered during the championship to three of the stalwarts meant FSU’s final race would have just one experienced member on the team. FSU fought, just as they had the entire meet on both the men’s and women’s side, but the fourth place relay finish was not good enough to hold onto the championship trophy and the men finished as ACC runners-up by a single point. The Seminole women also had an outstanding conference championship finishing fourth. “It was just a tremendous ACC Championship, one of the best ever,” said Braman. “I am so proud of both our teams. We fought so hard and overcame some really tough breaks with the injuries, but I can’t say enough about how our teams performed. “So many close races and we competed just as hard as we could. We had lifetime bests, won so many events and the meet was just back and forth all day. I’m really pleased with how we answered and we were close to winning it on the men’s side.” FSU won six events on Saturday led by freshman Dajaz DeFrand who won the women’s 100 meters in 11.18 and the 200 meters in 22.67. Alexandra Webster won the ACC Championship in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Amir Willis is the men’s 100 meter champion at 10.08 and the Seminoles swept the discus with Milton Ingraham winning the men’s with a throw of 62.13 and Caisa-Marie Lindfors the women’s championship at 60.80 meters. Both the men’s and women’s 4x100 relay teams took home silver with the men crossing the finish line in 38.74 and the women at 43.91. James Rivera ran a personal best 49.98 in the men’s 400 meter hurdles and took home the silver medal. Women’s distance runner Alyson Churchill had an outstanding three days at the ACC Championships including a fourth place finish in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:16.98 on Saturday .Willis’ win in the 100 meters was pivotal and Ismael Kone’s third place finish (10.15) along with Taylor Banks’ sixth place in 10.19 made it one of the highest-scoring events for the Seminoles. Willis and Kone continued to put up points for FSU with Willis coming in third in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 20.41 and Kone checking in at sixth in 2006. David Mullarkey finished fifth with a time of 13:53.36 in the men’s 5000 meters. Patrick Donnelly finished in 15:07.26 and Coleman Crank in 15:21.23. Riley Bahr was 29th in the women’s 5000 meters with a time of 17:30.22. Adding to Florida State’s outstanding showing was Jacob Hoeffner’s 10th-place finish in the men’s discus with a throw of 49.16, and Amani Heaven’s eighth place finish in the women’s discus at 50.36 meters. DaeQwan Butler’s 400 meter race in which he finished sixth with a time of 1:05.67 proved costly as he was one of the three unable to compete on the meet-closing 4x400 relay. Clemson won the men’s championship with 92 points to FSU’s 91. Duke won the ACC on the women’s side with 145.5 points. Virginia Tech was second with 84.5, Miami third with 83 and FSU fourth with 78. seminoles.com
FSU OPENS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES
Florida State’s entries at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at NC State positioned themselves nearly perfectly on an opening day that featured mostly preliminary events.
Amir Willis blistered the Wolfpack track to win the preliminary heats of the men’s 200 meters with a time of 20.46. He will be joined in the finals by teammate Ismael Kone who placed seventh overall with a time of 20.94. Denzell Feagin’s time of 21.00 put him just out of the upcoming final in ninth place, and Taylor Banks was clocked at 21.21 for 12th place.
2023 ACC Indoor Performer of the Year Jeremiah Davis emerged from the men’s long jump preliminary flights as the favorite with a field-leading 7.94 meter leap. Teammate Curtis Williams will also compete in the finals having finished sixth with a leap of 7.50 meters.
Dajaz DeFrand’s time of 23.11 in the women’s 200 meters was second best among the preliminary heats putting her into the finals as one of the favorites. Kaniya Johnson was 19th in the event with a time of 24.26.
Alyson Churchill is also in contention for a conference championship finishing second in the preliminary of the 1500 meters with an outstanding time of 14:15.08. Yasmine Abbes finished in 4:21.66 and was 15th in the field.
James Rivera blew away his heat of the men’s 400 meter hurdles and his time of 51.16 is third best among the qualifiers for the ACC finals.
FSU had a trio of women finish among the ACC’s top 18 in the preliminary heats of the 400 meter hurdles. Tyra Wilson led the Seminoles with a 10th place finish with a time of 59.51. Ava Klein was 11th in 59.71 and Makiya Spencer was 18th in 1:01.34.
Ella Madson had a good first day in the women’s heptathlon. She finished 11th in the high jump, 12 in the 200 meter dash, 13th in the 100 meter hurdles and 16th in the shot put.
The Seminoles’ three entries in the men’s 10,000 meters each finished among the Top 25. Cooper Schroeder was 11th with a time of 30:33.84 and the first FSU runner to finish. Zack Leachman was 20th in 30:55.13 and Paul Stafford finished in 23rd place with a time of 31:16.11.
The ACC Championships will have a full slate of events tomorrow and culminate on Saturday.