Seminoles Earn Men's ACC Outdoor Track & Field Co-Championship!

The Florida State men share the ACC championship with Virginia.

The Florida State's men’s track & field team has kept its streak alive, winning its fifth straight ACC outdoor title and the program's seventh overall.  The Seminoles and Virginia Cavaliers share the ACC title scoring 141 points each over the three-day championship meet. 

”We did continue the streak,” head coach Bob Braman said. “That’s the big thing and the positive thing.  It’s going to take a big team to beat us and I can’t imagine efforts greater than what were chased down by today.” 

The Seminoles won eight medals on Saturday at Cobb Stadium, including gold medals in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, the 400m hurdles and the 200m dash. 

Senior Miami native Javier Garcia-Tunon impressed the hometown fans with a first place time and lifetime best of 50.38 in the 400m hurdles.  Junior Charles Clark (Virginia Beach, Va.) was named ACC Champion in the 200m dash for the second straight season with a 20.57 while freshman Maurice Mitchell (Kansas City, Mo.) ran to a bronze medal in the event with a 20.90.  Sophomore Brandon Byram (Gallatin, Tenn.) scored points with a 21.09, good for fifth place.   

Sophomore Kevin Williams (Miami, Fla.), Byram, Mitchell and Clark combined for a 39.55 in the 4x100m while Miami native Brandon O’Connor joined Williams, Clark and Mitchell and ran the final leg in the 4x400m in a 3:06.99 in the final event of the meet.

Williams picked up the silver medal in the 400m with a time of 46.28, a personal best, while O’Connor scored points with a fourth-place finish in a time of 46.73 and recorded a personal record. Throws’ standout Michael Putman earned his second medal of the meet with a bronze in the discus with a mark of 57.13, setting a personal record for the Miami, Fla., native. 

Also scoring points for the Seminoles was sophomore Justin Harbor (Brunnell, Fla.) with a fifth-place finish (3:45.86) in the 1500m and an eighth place time 14:38.47 in the 5000 meter run.  Sophomore Matt Leeder (Brockville, Ontario) placed fifth in the 5000 with a time of 14:22.71, scoring four points for the Seminoles.

“It kind of hurts a little bit that we didn’t get the outright win,” Braman said.  “We just have to come into this meet a little more fired up.  The men competed well but we as coaches have to ask more of them and we didn’t do that.  Coming into the meet, we expected a really hot meet here but it didn’t turn out that way so when you double your athletes in good weather, it’s not so bad but in Miami, you expect very hot and humid weather and that affects your kids, particularly the distance kids.”