ACC Indoor Preview

Well it's that time again. Another great Indoor Season is upon us and with it the next wave of collegiate track and field stars. One of the key conferences in producing those stars is the ACC. This conference over the years has gone from a distance conference to a well rounded conference. Great, sprinters, hurdles, distance runners, throwers and jumpers. Below you will a find a preview of what is to come from each section.

(Dentarious Locke-Florida State)

SPRINTS

Florida State as usual leads off for the men. They recently made headlines but nabbing the top three 100 meter sprinters in the country (Kendall Williams, Trentavis Friday and Mustaqeem Williams). Something that may have never been done. Before those three talented youngsters arrive there is already great talent remaining. Dentarious Locke was ranked number 2 in the country in the 60 meter dash last season and false started in the preliminary round. He is joined by another talented teammate in high jumper and 400 meter runner James Harris who claimed the outdoor title. Adding to the talented two will be footballer Ronald Darby and true freshman Michael Cherry.

On the women's side major changes have occurred. Clemson saw their top ranked coach Lawrence Johnson resign at the beginning of the season. During the off season assistance sprints/hurdles coach Tim Hall also left for a new position at the University of Kentucky. A new coach was hired in the off season, Mark Elliott formerly the assistant coach at LSU. He added another former LSU coach Marvin Gibson to lead the sprints/hurdles. Gibson has had great experience developing championship runners (Trindon Holliday, Kimberlyn Duncan, Kelly Ann Baptiste and Barrett Nugent). He arrives to coach a depleted sprints/hurdle core that saw top sprint returnee Dezera Bryant transfer to Kentucky behind coach Hall along with hurdler Kendra Harrison. However there is still plenty of fire power in the conference. Marecia Pemberton of Florida State is now the top returnee in the women's sprints along with Jordan Lavender of Virginia. This a great opportunity for a true freshman such as Ana Holland of Virginia to take over.



FIELD EVENTS

In the jumping events Florida State will return two superstars. James Harris in the high jump and defending outdoor champion Stefan Britts in the long jump. Joining the duo will be true freshman Jalen Ramsey a football recruit who has been living up to the hype. Another returning champion is triple jumper Johnathan Gardner. Gardner like Harris is a returning NCAA All-American. Isaiah Simmons was true freshman last year that claimed both indoor and outdoor conference titles. More is expected out of Simmons, hopefully in the form of All-American honors.

On the women's side Thea Lamond of Maryland leads a talented returning group. Lamond the defending champion in the pentathlon will not only look to defend her pentathlon title but she is also a top returnee in the high jump and triple jump. Her teammate Amber Melville is the defending champion in the high jump and only returnee with a performance over 6 feet. Martina Schultze of Virginia Tech is also a returning champion and the only pole vaulter over 14 feet. In the throwing events two champions return. In the shot put both indoor and outdoor champions will be competing for the title. Tremanisha Taylor of NC State and Chelsea Whalen of Florida State, Taylor indoors and Whalen outdoors.



DISTANCE

The distance events in conference are going through a change. A few returnees and some incoming stars. On the men's side Thomas Curtis of Virginia Tech and Jakub Zivec of Florida State are the lone champion returnees. Curtis defending his 5,000 meter crown and Zivec defending his 3,000 meter crown. Both are important pieces in the team factor. Florida State is considered the favorite with Virginia Tech close by.

On the women's side Lianne Farber of North Carolina and Juliet Bottorf of Duke are also defending champions looking to push their teams towards the team title. Both will have to fight off a talented group at Florida State. The Seminoles return two great athletes in Colleen Quigley and Jessica Parry along with freshman star Bridget Blake. The Seminoles will also look to build off a successful cross country season were they won the conference title and Quigley earned athlete of the year.



Looks to be an exciting Indoor season for the ACC. Florida State has reigned supreme on the men's side for quite a while can Virginia Tech knock them off? On the women's side Clemson has lost many athletes to transfers and a coaches to different positions. Things should get interesting on the women's side.