2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field NCAA DIII Outstanding Performers of the Championships

NEW ORLEANS – Outstanding Performers of the Championships from the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships were announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Men’s honors went to Cheickna Traore of Ramapo and Joseph White of Carthage on the track and in the field, respectively, while Fiona Smith of Saint Benedict and Victoria Kadiri of Johns Hopkins stood out for the women in those same respective venues.

Each year, the USTFCCCA honors the Outstanding Performers of the Championships at both the NCAA DIII Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Winners are determined using a formula that adds together team points scored, plus meet records (five additional points), Division III seasonal bests (three additional points) and facility records (one point). Relay points, if applicable, are split equally among the four team members.

Traore, the Most Outstanding Men’s Track Performer of the Championships, totaled 36 points using the above formula. He swept the 200-meter and 400-meter titles (20 points), broke the meet record in the 200 twice (10) and established seasonal bests in both sprints (six points). Traore also shattered the NCAA DIII record in the 200 with his 20.72 winner and while that doesn’t factor into this award, we’d be remiss not to mention it. He would be fourth in NCAA DIII history, regardless of venue (indoors or outdoors), with that time, if he wasn’t already second outdoors with his 20.56 from last year.

White, the Most Outstanding Men’s Field Performer of the Championships, totaled 20 points using the above formula. He completed the shot put-weight throw double in Birmingham, Alabama, which allowed him to tie for eighth in the team standings by himself.

Smith, the Most Outstanding Women’s Track Performer of the Championships, totaled 28 points using the above formula. She was a double distance champion, winning both the 3000 meters and 5000 meters (20 points) and set a meet record of 9:25.62 in the former that was also a seasonal best (eight points between those two feats).

Kadiri, the Most Outstanding Women’s Field Performer of the Championships, totaled 33 points using the above formula. She soared to individual titles in both horizontal jumps and added a fifth-place effort in the pentathlon (24 points), broke the meet record – and NCAA DIII record – in the triple jump (five points), which was also a seasonal best (three points), and topped the seasonal chart in the long jump (three points). Again, we’d be remiss to mention that Kadiri’s triple jump of 13.18m (43-3) doubles as an outright NCAA DIII record, meaning that it surpassed both the indoor and outdoor all-time bests.