Coaches Select DII Outdoor National Athletes of the Year

Jermaine Jones, Saint Augustine’s

Jones, a sophomore from Wilmington, N.C., won an NCAA Division II individual title at 200 meters and ran a leg of the winning and all-time DII record-setting 4×100 relay team, along with a third-place run at 100 meters, in helping the Falcons to the team title. Jones pulled away down the stretch of the 200 to claim the win in 20.57 (+0.2m/s), and ran the anchor leg on a pair of DII 4×100 relay records. The Falcons ran 39.01 during Friday’s prelims to break the DII record, and ran a 38.91 in Saturday’s finals to break it again. He finished third at 100 meters in the finals at 10.34 (-0.4m/s).

During the regular season Jones claimed both the 100 and 200 meter titles at the CIAA Championships, and also ran a leg of the winning 4×100 relay. He was named the CIAA meet’s Most Valuable Performer for his performance.

Danielle Williams, Johnson C. Smith

Williams, a junior from St. Andrew, Jamaica, turned in a pair of all-time performances in winning both the 100 and 200 meters at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, in addition to a runner-up showing in the 100 hurdles. She blazed to the win at 200 meters in an all-time Division II record 22.62 (-0.7m/s) after having run a 22.63w (+5.4m/s) during the prelims. Her win at 100 meters came in 11.24 (-0.7m/s), giving her the win by more than a quarter of a second and the No. 4 wind-legal mark in division history. Her runner-up performance in the 100 hurdles in 12.89 (+1.8m/s) makes her the third-fastest performer in DII history.

She did not lose a final at either 100 or 200 meters throughout the duration of the outdoor season, including CIAA titles at 100 and 200 meters and the 4×100 relay to go along with a second-place 100 hurdles finish.

J Patrick Smith, Chico State

A junior from Santa Barbara, Calif., Smith claimed the NCAA Division II title in the decathlon by 225 points with a score of 7612 after winning two components and finished top-three in five others. He won the 100 meters component in 10.68w (+3.0m/s) and the long jump by nearly a foot at 24-7¼w (7.50m, +2.9m/s). In the process of winning the event he took down the top seed in runner-up Justin Balczak of LSSU and the 2011 champion in Central Missouri’s Brent Vogel — the indoor National Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.

He reached the auto-qualifying mark in the decathlon in his first attempt this season, scoring 7035 at the Chico Multi-Event Classic in late February/early March. Contributed 28½ points between six individual events and a 4×100 relay win at the CCAA Championships en route to a team CCAA title.

Sam Lockhart, Grand Valley State

Lockhart, a senior from Lansing, Mich., established herself among the best throwers in both Division II history and the 2013 collegiate landscape with a season that culminated in NCAA Division II titles in the discus and the shot put, and a third-place finish in the hammer throw. Her first title came in the discus, which she won with a championships-record mark of 190-7 (58.08m) by nearly 20 feet. She also won the shot put with a mark of 54-11½ (16.75m) to win by more than four feet. She started her weekend with a third-place finish in the hammer throw at 194-7 (59.30m).

Lockhart, who went undefeated in 12 shot put and discus events, earned USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors three times this outdoor season after breaking the all-time discus record two times and moving to No. 2 all-time in the shot put and No. 8 in the hammer throw. She first set the discus record at 192-9 (58.75m), before two weeks later breaking it at 193-2 (58.87m) at the GLIAC Championships. That same week she moved to No. 2 all-time in the shot put with a GLIAC-winning mark of 55-1½ (16.80m) and No. 7 in the hammer at 201-8 (61.48m).

Past Winners

National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year

National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year

National Men’s Field Athlete of the Year

National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year