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Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Soccer, Softball, Baseball, Volleyball, Basketball, and other sports news

Catching you up on the latest in Florida State Seminoles athletics

By FrankDNole
/ new

In case you missed the last ‘TN’s Triple-S’ coverage of Florida State Seminoles athletics, here is the recap: Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Softball, Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, and other sports news.

As we get further into the fall sports, we will continue to keep you up to date on any Florida State sports information and media press releases we are sent from the FSU SID or that we source ourselves.

Feel free to include any other FSU related news of any kind that we may have missed in the comment section.

Most of the summaries below are courtesy of FSU SID, Tomahawk Nation, and the Twitters.

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Softball

We continue our dive into the 2023 Florida State softball program, this week we take a look at the two sophomores currently returning to Tallahassee. In addition to Amaya Ross and Krystina Hartley, Lonni Alameda and her staff recently added the addition of Katie Dack, via the transfer portal, to the sophomore class....{continued *FOR FREE}

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Continuing our rewind series, and the football BYE week, we look at a truly historical moment in FSU softball lore. After winning the national championship in 2018, the 2019 Florida State softball squad looked to get back to Oklahoma City.

After completing the regular season and winning the ACC tournament title, the ‘Noles came back home to hose the Tallahassee regional. In the first game, they put themselves in the winners bracket, after winning against Bethune-Cookman. In the 1-0 game, they matched up with the USF Bulls, and were the designated away team....{continued *FOR FREE}

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We continue our dive into the 2023 Florida State softball program, this week its part two of the redshirt players.

After suffering an injury in 2021, Jahni Kerr looked to return last season. Back in the lineup in 2022, Kerr posted a .261 batting average. Her success late in the season saw her move her way up through the lineup. While at the plate she recorded 47 hits, 25 runs scored, 10 doubles, 5 home runs, 35 RBI, and was walked 10 times...{continued *FOR FREE}

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Now that the September 1st window has come and gone for college softball, the class of 2024 can start announcing verbal commits to their schools. For Florida State, they have started to receive verbals. This thread will be dedicated to the players who have posted about committing to the Garnet and Gold starting in 2024..{continued *FOR FREE}

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Even though it ended early, it was still a special season for Florida State Seminoles softball.

An incredible run through the season was punctuated by an ACC Tournament championship title — Team 39 put up a 49-5 record for the highest winning percentage in a regular season in school history (.907). The season showed the fight that personifies head coach Lonni Alameda’s teams and provided many moments for fans to remember.

Now that the dust has settled, we at Tomahawk Nation decided to take a look at the top 5 moments that made the season spectacular...{continued *FOR FREE}

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Soccer

No. 4 Florida State (10-2-2, 6-2 ACC) fell to no. 2 North Carolina (13-3, 6-2 ACC) by a 2-1 score tonight at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

Game Recap

Florida State started the game on the front foot. In the fifth minute the Noles broke the scoring ice. Jody Brown received the ball in midfield and drove into the attacking third. Brown drew three defenders to her before finding Jenna Nighswonger open in the middle of the field. Nighswonger quickly spotted Onyi Echegini making a run through the defense. Nighswonger slotted a great ball to Echegini who cut past Emily Moxley to get the ball. Moxley grabbed Echegini’s arm but the Seminole striker had enough strength to receive the ball and send it between Emmie Allen’s legs for the first goal of the game....{continued *FOR FREE}

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  • Jenna Nighswonger Named TDS and College Soccer News Player of the Week

Florida State senior midfielder Jenna Nighswonger was named the TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News National Player of the Week on Tuesday after leading the Seminoles to a 5-1 win over No. 12 Duke a week ago.

Nighswonger recorded a career-high tying three assists for the second time this season. The three assists in the Seminole Soccer Complex also tie a facility record. Nighswonger currently leads the Seminoles with 18 points off 10 assists and four goals. The 10 assists and 18 points are both career highs. Her 10 assists also rank as the second most in the country.

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The Florida State soccer team has now passed the mid-point of the season. Therefore, it is a good time to assess how the season has gone so far and where the team may be headed as we move on toward the post season.

These are real questions posed by real people in the sense that they are actual questions (they end in a question mark) and I am a real person. I have written all of the questions....{continued *FOR FREE}

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Women’s Basketball

  • Women’s Hoops Selected Ninth in ACC Predicted Order of Finish

Florida State Women’s Basketball has been picked to finish ninth in the Blue Ribbon Panel ACC Predicted Order of Finish, announced on Wednesday night on the new show ACC PM on the ACC Network.

Freshman guard Ta’Niya Latson was one of six members chosen to the Blue Ribbon Panel Newcomer Watch List. The Miami native is ranked as the top-ranked shooting guard in the 2022 signing class and recently earned Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball as well as Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022.

The Blue Ribbon Panel pegged Louisville as the predicted league champion in 2022-23, while Virginia Tech senior center Elizabeth Kitley was named the preseason player of the year.

Latson joins Ashley Owusu of Virginia Tech, Saniya Rivers of NC State, Dyaisha Fair of Syracuse, Haley Cavinder of Miami and Clemson’s Ruby Whitehorn on the newcomer watch list. The list includes freshmen and first-year transfers, with Latson and Whitehorn being the only freshmen in the group.

Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff begins her first season as the permanent head coach of Florida State. When she served as the Interim Head Coach in the 2020-21 season, the Seminoles were predicted eighth in the league’s coaches poll and finished fourth, highlighting a remarkable achievement for Wyckoff.

The 2020-21 Seminoles are the only team in the league to be picked as low as eighth in the ACC preseason coaches poll and finish with a Top-4 seed since the conference expanded to its current group of teams in the 2014-15 academic year.

A mix of youthful talent and veteran leadership highlights the FSU roster in 2022-23. Transfers Jazmine Massengill (112 games) and Taylor O’Brien (102 games) have each played over 100 games in their collegiate careers. Incoming freshmen Latson and Brianna “Snoop” Turnage give the Seminoles skilled young players who can make immediate impacts.

Returning All-ACC Freshmen O’Mariah Gordon and Makayla Timpson will be counted on for heavy production in their sophomore years, while returnees Sara Bejedi, Mariana Valenzuela, Erin Howard and Valencia Myers all played significant minutes a season ago and add to the team’s experience.

Florida State hosts two exhibitions to get itself going prior to the start of the 2022-23 season. FSU hosts West Georgia on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2 p.m. The Seminoles then host Flagler on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. Both exhibitions are free to attend with general admission seating.

The Seminoles begin their official season at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Monday, Nov. 7, vs. Bethune-Cookman at a special start time of 11 a.m. FSU will host its education game, which provides a field trip to several schools across the Big Bend area.

Blue Ribbon Panel Newcomer Watch List
Ashley Owusu, Sr., G, Virginia Tech
Saniya Rivers, So., G, NC State
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse
Ta’Niya Latson, Fr., G, Florida State
(tie) Haley Cavinder, Sr., G, Miami
(tie) Ruby Whitehorn, Fr., G, Clemson

Blue Ribbon Panel Predicted Order of Finish (60 voters)
Louisville (31) – 1068
Virginia Tech (17) – 984
NC State (8) – 963
Notre Dame (4) – 942
North Carolina – 895
Miami – 674
Duke – 627
Georgia Tech – 623
Florida State – 553
Syracuse – 379
Virginia – 303
Clemson – 275
Boston College – 271
Wake Forest – 256
Pittsburgh – 187

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Volleyball

  • Noles Handle Hokies in Three Sets

The Florida State Seminoles (13-7, 5-4) snapped their two-game losing streak at the Paint It Pink game Friday night, beating the Virginia Tech Hokies (9-11, 2-7) in three sets (28-26, 25-17, 25-13) at Tully Gym. The Noles improved to 9-1 inside of Tully Gym and are now 19-0 against the Hokies in Tallahassee.

The first set began close, with teams exchanging points back and forth. After falling behind, the Noles clawed back into the set through team blocks and an offensive onslaught, tallying 14 kills. Khori Louis led with four. The end of the set was a nail biter, with teams swapping set points. A Sydney Conley ace, her first of the season, sealed the first set for the Noles.

The Noles used that momentum to ignite them in the second set. FSU never lost the lead and flexed their offensive muscles with several aces and 10 kills, led by Emma Clothier and Louis with three each. Despite a late surge from VT, it wasn’t enough. FSU capped off the set in style, winning with a team block to take the second set 25-17.

The third set proved to be much of the same with the Noles jumping out to an early lead and not letting it go. FSU continued their attack, with more aces and 14 kills. FSU was in complete control for the whole set, not allowing the Hokies to chain together points. The Noles finished off the set with an ace to win it 25-13.

Louis led the way with 11 kills on 14 attempts to hit an impressive .718. Emma Clothier added 10 kills. The Noles were very impressive on the service line recording a season-high 12 aces with Clothier and Audrey Koenig each recording three.

Florida State will be back in Tully Gym at Sunday against Wake Forest. First serve is set for 1 p.m. and can be seen on ACCNX.

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Check out our dedicated Fanpost for FSU Women’s sports for any Women’s sports news you come across and can share to help keep your community up to date on what is happening in FSU women’s athletics during the week...{continued *FOR FREE}

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Men’s Basketball

  • FSU Picked To Finish Fifth in ACC

Florida State, which returns its top two and three of its top six scorers from last season, has been selected to finish fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball standings for the upcoming 2022-23 season by the attending media at the ACC Tip Off in Charlotte. It marks the fourth consecutive season the Seminoles have been selected to finish in fifth place or better in the final standings of the nation’s top basketball conference.

In two of the last three seasons, the team selected to finish fifth in the preseason has won the ACC championship – the Seminoles in 2020 and Virginia Tech in 2022. Florida State won the 2020 ACC Championship with a school record 16 wins and a 16-4 conference record during the regular season.

In four of the last six seasons, Head Coach Leonard Hamilton has led the Seminoles to a higher finish in the final standings than was predicted in the preseason. In 2017, the Seminoles were picked to finish eighth and finished second; in 2019 the Seminoles were picked to finish seventh and finished fourth; in 2020 the Seminoles were selected to finish fifth and won the regular season championship; in 2021 the Seminoles were picked third and finished second.

North Carolina, which played Kansas in the National Championship game last season, was picked as the favorite in the 2022-23 ACC race for the 20th time since 1970. The Seminoles are picked to finish in the top five along with North Carolina (first), Duke (second), Virginia (third) and Miami (fourth).

The Seminoles, who are one of the top programs in the ACC, finished an injury-filled season in 2021-22 with a 17-14 overall record and a 10-10 mark in ACC play. The Seminoles were 6-2 in conference play before losing four of five starters to injury and finishing with a 10-10 mark in conference play. Since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Florida State is the fourth winningest program in the ACC with a 78-42 record.

Florida State will be led during the upcoming season by a core group of returning guards in Matthew Cleveland (the reigning ACC Sixth Man of the Year) and his back court running mates Caleb Mills (12.7 ppg) and Jalen Warley (2.5 apg). Mills and Cleveland (11.5 ppg) finished one-two in scoring for the Seminoles during the 2021-22 season. The Seminoles also welcome back Cam’Ron Fletcher (6.8 ppg) and center Naheem McLeod (4.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg) while welcoming transfer Darin Green, Jr., from UCF and an exciting and highly-ranked group of freshmen.

Seminole fans interested in purchasing season tickets for all home regular season games at the Donald L. Tucker Center can learn more here, or are encouraged to call to the Florida State Ticket Office at 1-888-FSU-NOLE. Single game tickets for home games in November and December will go on sale on Monday, October 24 to Seminole Boosters and Tuesday, October 25 to the general public. January and February game tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Predicted Order of Finish (101 total votes)

1. North Carolina (90), 1504
2. Duke (2), 1339
3. Virginia (6), 1310
4. Miami (2), 1138
5. Florida State, 1064
6. Notre Dame, 971
7. Virginia Tech (1), 921
8. Syracuse, 700
9. Wake Forest, 672
10. NC State, 548
11. Clemson, 528
12. Louisville, 477
13. Boston College, 368
14. Pitt, 320
15. Georgia Tech, 260
First-place votes in parentheses

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  • Hamilton, Jones Celebrated With ACC’s UNITE Award

Florida State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Leonard Hamilton, and former women’s basketball standout Morgan M. Jones have been honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference as recipients of the 2022 ACC UNITE Award. The award was created in 2021 to celebrate individuals affiliated with the league who have made an impact in the areas of racial and social justice. The UNITE Award is an initiative of the ACC’s Committee for Racial and Social Justice (CORE – Champions of Racial Equity).

Hamilton is the Seminoles’ all-time winningest coach with 395 wins and is the fifth all-time winningest coach in ACC history with 177 wins in conference play. Jones, who graduated from Florida State in 2015, finished her career ranked 12th in school history for career 3-point field goals made (99) and 16th in FSU history with a .318 3-point field goal percentage.

“We are proud to honor the ACC UNITE Award winners who have made significant contributions in the areas of racial and social justice,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “These 30 individuals are true pioneers who inspire us with their contributions to a more diverse and equal society. As a conference we will remain steadfast in our pursuit of racial and social justice, while assisting our student-athletes and institutions with programs that can affect change.”

The UNITE Award is presented annually to individuals who best exemplify ACC CORE’s mission to promote and encourage racial equity and social justice through education, partnerships, engagement and advocacy; have helped create meaningful, lasting change by improving systems, organizational structures, policies, practices and attitudes and who have been a pioneer and/or helped pave the way for minorities either at the institution or in the community.

Florida State

Leonard Hamilton has been a pioneer of social justice, advocacy, and engagement within the local and national community for decades. His achievements span a lifetime, his ability to empower and develop young men, and his stature as a public leader who fights for equity in every facet of his work is unmatched. His dedication to integration is remarkable. Hamilton was the first black basketball player at both Gaston Community College and Austin Peay before becoming the first black assistant coach in Kentucky basketball history in 1974. Hamilton had his team participate in the “No Room for Racism” Classic, which was played in 2021. “There needs to be a clear understanding of the history of these types of issues,” said Hamilton. Hamilton is the winningest coach in Florida State history and has earned national coach of the year honors on five different occasions. He was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2009, 2012 and 2020.

Morgan M. Jones has dedicated her life to empowering others, specifically athletes in marginalized, rural, and urban communities. A known speaker and national leader, she helps athletes discover their path, voice and purpose in life through products, programs and impact mentorship. As a former high school All-American, Division I and professional athlete, Jones transitioned out of sports into sales. This challenged her in many ways to discover the deeper purpose in her playing career and how to transfer the skills into an authentic passion and purpose. To date, Morgan has impacted more than 5,000 student-athletes to design and define who they are becoming. Jones has been featured in Essence Magazine, on ABC and CBS for her sold out events & consulted with major brands who look to develop initiatives around building their female athlete programming off the court.

2022 UNITE Award Recipients

Boston College: M. Quentin Williams & Dr. Constance Smith Hendricks
Clemson: Wayne Jenkins & Barbara Kennedy-Dixon (posthumously)
Duke: Michael Howard & Gracie Johnson
Florida State: Leonard Hamilton & Morgan M. Jones
Georgia Tech: Lucius Sanford & Lynn Houston-Moore
Louisville: Jim Freeman & Valerie (Owens) Combs
Miami: Corey Jones & Lauryn Harris
North Carolina: Charles Scott & Kathy Crawford
NC State: Dr. Marcus Martin & Charece Williams Gee
Notre Dame: Cason Wilburn & Niele Ivey
Pitt: Dr. Bettina Love & Herb Douglas
Syracuse: Dedrick Etan Thomas & Emily Nugent
Virginia: Marques Hagans & Hailey Barnett
Virginia Tech: André Davis & Reyna Gilbert-Lowry
Wake Forest: Jim Caldwell & Charlene Curtis (posthumously)

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This is the place we’ve set up for our members to discuss the Florida State Seminoles men’s basketball for any breaking news, recruiting, players eligible for the NBA Draft, and any other basketball related news you may want to bring up for discussion....{Continued *FOR FREE}

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Baseball

  • 2023 Schedule Announced

The college baseball season inches closer as new Florida State head coach Link Jarrett announced the 2023 schedule for the Seminoles Wednesday morning. The 55-game slate includes 31 home games at Dick Howser Stadium and 25 total games against 2022 NCAA regional teams.

Season tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased on Seminoles.com/tickets or by calling 888-FSU-NOLE. The deadline to renew is December 5, 2022.

The Noles will host James Madison on Opening Weekend (February 17-19) for the second consecutive season before four straight road games, including a weekend series at TCU (February 24-26) in Fort Worth, Texas. The series is the return portion of the home-and-home the teams started last year in Tallahassee and is FSU’s first non-conference weekend road series since 2015 at Georgia.

FSU will also host FGCU (March 3-5) and Mercer (May 5-7) in non-conference series.

In ACC play, FSU hosts Pitt (March 10-12), Boston College (March 17-19), Clemson (April 6-8), Virginia Tech (April 21-23) and Wake Forest (May 12-14). The Noles will play at Virginia (March 24-26), Miami (March 31-April 2), NC State (April 14-16) and Notre Dame (April 28-30) before ending the regular season at Louisville (May 18-20).

Among the in-state schools FSU will face during mid-week games are Jacksonville, USF, Bethune-Cookman, UCF, North Florida and Stetson. The Noles will also host Kennesaw State on May 16, the first meeting between the two programs. FSU and Kennesaw State will play an exhibition game on October 22 at 1:00 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium.

FSU’s three-game series against Florida will take place on March 21 in Tallahassee, March 28 at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville and April 11 in Gainesville.

Jarrett led Notre Dame to the College World Series in 2022 for the third time in school history before being named head coach at his alma mater in June. TCU, Florida, Virginia, Miami, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Kennesaw State and Louisville also reached the NCAA Tournament last year.

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Swimming & Diving

  • Noles Dominate Quad Meet

The No. 21/NR Florida State swimming and diving teams picked up four wins on Friday at the Morcom Aquatics Center.

The No. 21 men’s team (1-0) defeated Florida Southern (192-69) and the women (3-0) were victorious over West Florida (224-73), North Florida (238.00) and FSC (232-59).

“We swam very well today,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “We had quite a few highlights throughout the meet and we’re very pleased with the effort and attention to detail. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for us. We haven’t hosted a big opponent like Georgia at Morcom in a couple of years, so we’ll have to bring our energy and create an awesome atmosphere and be ready.”

On short rest, the Seminoles will host No. 7/15 Georgia on Saturday at 12 p.m.

The women won 14 events on the day, while the men picked up 12.

After a sweep of the 200 medley relay, Ella Dyjak posted a 10-second victory in the 1000 free, touching at 10:20.40.

Sophie Freeman added two wins, placing first in the 200 free (1:51.45) ahead of Edith Jernstedt (1:52.23). Freeman also won the 200 back (2:00.66) touching ahead of Jaden Herbet in second place (2:04.93).

Herbet led the way in the 100 back (56.52), finishing first ahead of Sydney Cole (58.74) in second and Natalie Peterson in third (59.37).

Rachel Moran (1:05.64) and Malaika Schneider (1:06.09) added a one-two showing in the 100 breast and Sarah Evans (23.54) and Alexandra Dicks (23.92) followed with another in the 50 free.

After the break, Evans added another victory in the 100 free (51.40) ahead of Brooke Arnold (51.89) in second and Phoebe Griffiths (52.03) in third.

The Noles added another sweep, as Sydney VanOvermeiren (2:21.36) outlasted Anna Metzler (2:21.86) for the win, ahead of Moran (2:22.29) in third.

Julia Brzozowski made her debut in the Garnet and Gold, leading wire-to-wire in the 500 free, touching at 5:02.51.

Aryanna Fernandes was the winner in the 200 IM, touching with a time of 2:05.87 ahead of Julia Mansson (2:09.54) in second place.

The ladies closed out the meet with a win in the 200 free relay behind Dicks, Gloria Muzito, Freeman and Zsofia Kurdi with a time of 1:34.12.

Samantha Vear led the Noles in diving, winning both springboard events.

Vear started with a victory on 1-meter (301.88) finishing ahead of Izzy Gregersen in second (290.55) and Jessica Buntman (270.15) in third. On 3-meter, Vear turned in the top score of 336.90, ahead of Vivian Johnson (322.13) and Gregersen (319.50) for the sweep.

“For our first meet of the year I am very excited with how our women performed,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “I think this is a sign of good things to come.”

The men also opened the meet with a sweep of the 200 medley relay.

Zach Smith posted an eight-second victory in the 1000 free, touching at 9:24.31.

Yordan Yanchev added two wins, first taking the 200 free (1:38.40) ahead of Jack Hall (1:40.12) in second and David Quirie (1:41.51) in third. Yanchev later added a victory in the 100 free (44.60), holding off Varis Monroe (44.72) in second and Aziz Ghaffari (45.29) in third.

Monroe’s time was a career-best.

Max Wilson made his debut for the Noles, touching first in the 100 back at 48.84 behind a personal best, ahead of Arijus Pavlidi (49.05) in second.

Mason Herbet (55.50) out-touched Marcos Egri-Martin (55.84) for the win in the 100 breast and Smith added another victory, winning the 200 fly at 1:50.80.

The Noles were dominant in the 50 free, led by Peter Varjasi (19.82), Jokubas Keblys (20.73) in second and Blake Moran (20.76) in third.

FSU went one-two in the 200 back, led by Tyler Hanley (1:51.52) and Quirie (1:52.07).

Brennan Hammond (49.31) led the sweep of the 100 fly, ahead of Auben Nugent (50.13) and Carlos Vasquez (50.48).

Varjasi picked up his second win, touching at 1:48.25 in the 200 IM before the Noles swept the 200 free relay to close out the meet.

Results

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Tennis

  • Men’s Tennis Set to Host ITA Regionals

The Florida State men’s tennis team is hosting the ITA Southeast Regional for the first time since 2016 beginning on Thursday at Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center. The tournament features all of the Division I schools in Florida and Georgia.

“We want to have good opportunities against good teams and good players, so the opportunity to host it on our courts is really exciting,” head coach Dwayne Hultquist said.

The doubles main draw will begin on Thursday afternoon after the conclusion of all qualifying singles matches, and the singles main draw will begin on Friday morning. The full schedule can be found here.

Fans can attend all matches and admission is free. Some of the matches will also be live streamed here.

All nine Seminoles will be competing in the singles main draw, and Florida State will have four doubles pairs competing. Two of FSU’s pairs return from stellar spring seasons together as Loris Pourroy will play with Andy Petrovic and Youcef Rihane will be paired with Alex Bulte. Rihane and Bulte recently won the ITA Summer Championships Doubles Final and competed in the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships.

Five Seminoles competed in the singles main draw in the 2022 ITA Regionals, including four current players. Junior Andy Petrovic advanced to the round of 16 after beating the No. 6 seed in the tournament.

“The winner of this goes to Fall Championships, and the finalist as well, and we want our guys to be able to make runs,” Hultquist added.

The ITA Fall Championships are scheduled for November 2-6 in San Diego, California. The top two singles finishers and top two doubles finalists from each ITA Regional Championship automatically qualify for the ITA Fall Championships.

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Track & Field

  • FSU Track and Field Welcomes Back Harlis Meaders, Promotes Coach Kane and Coach Argro

Florida State track and field head coach Bob Braman has announced the addition of assistant coach Harlis Meaders to his staff. Braman has also named Ricky Argro the Associate Head Coach of Men’s Track and Field and Matt Kane the Associate Head Coach of Women’s Track and Field.

“I’m really excited about the recent changes in our staff. Harlis and I worked hand-in-hand in building the track and field dynasty of the early 2000s, so I’m a huge fan of his coaching and really excited to welcome him,” Braman said. “Coach Argro and Coach Kane have been instrumental in our program’s resurgence over the last several years. They’ve achieved great success in tough times and both of their squads are poised to make some noise on the national level this spring. Their promotions as Associate Head Coaches to the men’s and women’s programs are well-deserved.”

Meaders returns to Florida State for the second time in his 28-year coaching career. Meaders spent 18 seasons in Tallahassee and was a part of the most successful seasons in program history. Meaders was an assistant coach for the 2006 and 2008 men’s national championship teams and coached Seminole great Garrett Johnson who was a two-time national champion in the shot put. He also coached two-time Olympian Dorian Scott.

In 18 years with the Seminoles, his throwers’ group earned 22 ACC titles and 22 All-America honors. In 2011, Meaders helped the Seminoles win the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men’s Program of the Year in 2011 and 2012. Meaders was also named the 2005 East Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.

After his stint with the Seminoles, Meaders returned to his alma mater to become the North Carolina head track and field coach for the next seven seasons. Following his stint in Chapel Hill, Meaders has spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Colgate track and field program. Meaders was also the 2019 USATF World University Games Throws Coach. In total, Meaders has coached 57 All-Americans, 49 ACC individual champions, three national champions, one Olympian and one Rhodes Scholar.

“I am excited to be back in Garnet and Gold. Coach Braman has done an excellent job of keeping this program relevant on the national scene, and I am excited to accept his invitation to rejoin the team. I am joining an amazing staff of other assistant coaches. I am eager to learn from all of them and to share some of my experiences while at FSU and other universities,” Meaders said.

Argro and Kane have been staples to the Seminoles’ recent success. In the 2022 season, Argro coached Jo’Vaughn Martin and DaeQwan Butler to ACC titles and also helped Martin pick up his second-straight First Team All-America honor. Primarily working with the men’s sprinters, Argro guided both the 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

“I want to thank Coach Braman and the administration for this great opportunity. This program means the world to me, and I look to continue to represent the tradition and values of Florida State to the best of my ability,” Argro said. “I am truly blessed to work with an amazing staff who help me continue to grow as a coach as well as the phenomenal athletes we work with. Most importantly, thank you to my family. Their continued support of me can’t be described.”

Coach Kane has made an immediate impact in three seasons for the Seminoles. This past season, Kane guided Trey Cunningham to one of the most successful hurdle seasons in collegiate history. Cunningham won national titles in the 60m hurdles and the 110m hurdles and was also second in the 110m hurdles at the World Championships. Last season alone, Kane coached eight ACC individual champions and seven All-Americans and guided the women’s 4x100m relay to an ACC record time of 42.78.

“It’s an honor that Coach Braman has faith in myself and Coach Argro to help grow the program. I believe we are building something special here at Florida State, and I know that Florida State will be a premier sport for collegiate women competing in track and field,” Coach Kane said.

Braman has now completed his staff with the additions of Meaders and assistant coach Baylee Mires who is heading the women’s distance crew. Mires has already had great success in Tallahassee leading the women’s cross country team to 24th in the USTFCCCA poll and second in the South Region.

“I feel like we’ve got one of best all-around coaching staffs in the country. It’s my honor to guide them in their journey in shaping our student athletes’ lives on and off the track,” Braman said.

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