FSU Track and Field: Five Noles Earn First-Team All-American Honors

Of the 16 Florida State track and field athletes that qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, 12 earned All-American honors. That included five first-teamers.

Of the 16 athletes to qualify, nine were on the women’s side. The highest finisher overall for the Seminoles was discus thrower Kellion Knibb, who finished third after being NCAA runner-up last year.

Knibb’s best throw was 59.19 meters. In the same event, Gleneve Grange earned first-team All-American honors by finishing eighth.

The other FSU woman to earn first-team All-American honors was Veronika Kanuchova, who finished fifth in the hammer throw. The freshman’s best throw went 65.97 meters.

Peta-Gay Williams and Cortney Jones each earned second-team honors for the 100-meter hurdles. Shanice Love and Eleonora Omoregie also each earned second-team honors for the discus and high jump, respectively.

Overall as a team, the FSU women finished 19th for the NCAA Championships. Host Oregon took home the team title.

On the men’s side, FSU did not fare as well during the Championships, which lasted from Wednesday through Saturday. As a team, the Seminoles finished 51st while rival Florida took home the team title for the second straight year.

Five of the seven men who qualified earned All-American honors and that included a pair of first-team selections.

Among the FSU men, the highest finisher was Montel Nevers, who took sixth in the triple jump. Nevers finished with a distance of 16.05 meters. His teammate Armani Wallace narrowly missed a first-team selection, but settled for second team after coming in ninth place.

The other FSU male athlete to earn first-team All-American honors has a familiar name and that’s Carlos Becker. Becker, who is also a defensive back for the FSU football team, finished seventh in the long jump with a distance of 7.63 meters.

Austin Droogsma and Emmanuel Onyia each earned second-team honors for their respective performances in the shot put and the discus. Each finished 12th.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson