USTFCCCA All-America Honors Handed Out to NCAA Division II

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announces the 150 men and 138 women that earned USTFCCCA All-America distinctions for the 2011 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season. A total of 351 awards will be given as a result of performances at the past weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

USTFCCCA All-Americans (PDFs): By Team | By Event | All-America History

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The men of Abilene Christian and women of Grand Valley State won the national team crowns.

Fifth-ranked Abilene Christian, with just six entries into the national championships, won the men’s national team title with 49 points – the lowest-winning point total in NCAA D-II indoor history. Ashland claimed runner-up in the team race with 42 while defending champion Lincoln (Mo.) placed third with 41 and Central Missouri placed fourth with 36½.

Despite the six entries, Abilene Christian had each of those possible scorers finish in the national top four. Senior Amos Sang won the 5000-meter title and added second-place points in the mile. Senior Ramon Sparks won his second-straight triple jump crown. Desmond Jackson was runner-up in both the 60 and 200. And, junior Nick Jones added into the fun with a fourth-place finish.

For ACU, it extended their record to 13 men’s NCAA D-II indoor crowns, but it is the first for first-year coach Roosevelt Lofton. ACU last won the national crown in 2005.

The women of Grand Valley State had little trouble in winning their first NCAA D-II indoor crown in school history. Many of the same elements that helped the Lakers to a national cross country crown in the fall were crucial in securing the squad’s 83-point total. Junior Monica Kinney won the mile and the 5000 meters, and topped defending 5k champ Neely Spence of Shippensburg in the process. Also claiming an individual crown for the Lakers was junior Lauren Buresh in the shot put.

Two-time defending champion Lincoln (Mo.) placed second in the team race with 51 points while Adams State (37) and New Haven (32) finished third and fourth, respectively.

New Haven senior Shannon Gagne won national titles in the 200, 400, and long jump. It is only the second time in NCAA D-II women’s history that three individual titles have been claimed at the same championships. Saint Augustine’s Kwonya Ferguson accomplished the same feat in 2007 with national crowns in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump.

Kimour Bruce of Lincoln (Mo.) defended his national title in the 60 meters, Western Washington’s Ryan Brown earned a second-straight pole vault national crown, Indiana (Pa.)’s Nafee Harris won the long jump for the second-straight year, and Kurt Roberts of Ashland claimed another shot put national gold. On the women’s side, Adams State’s Indira Spence again won the 60-meter hurdle title, Lincoln (Mo.) repeated as 4×400-meter relay champs, and Neb.-Omaha’s Nkeiruka Domike won a second-straight triple jump title.

Selasi Lumax of Southern Connecticut earned three All-America honors with a sixth-place finish in the 800 meters and as a member of SCSU’s eighth-place DMR and 4×400 relay teams.

Seven women earned three All-America certificates; they are Nyoka Cole (Lincoln (Mo.)), Kinney (Grand Valley State), Samantha Edwards (Virginia State), Angella Graham (New Mexico Highlands), Shannon Gagne (New Haven), Lindsay Lettow (Central Missouri), and Nicole Brungardt (Wayne State (Neb.)).

Southern Connecticut and Lincoln (Mo.) led the way with 11 men’s All-America certificates, followed by Ashland (9), Saint Augustine’s (9), and Findlay (8). On the women’s side, Grand Valley State notched 16 All-America nods, followed by Lincoln (Mo.) 13, Johnson C. Smith (10), Ashland (9), and Adams State (9).

The MIAA earned the most honors on both men’s (29) and women’s (39) conference-best lists. The GLIAC (27), RMAC (25), Northeast-10 (19), and CIAA (17) followed on the men’s side while the GLIAC (29), NSIC (28), CIAA (21), and RMAC (18) rounded out the women’s top five.

To earn All-America honors, athletes must have scored any portion of a team point at the NCAA. USTFCCCA membership by a program is required to earn All-America awards.

2011 USTFCCCA Indoor Track & Field All-America – NCAA Division II

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