CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 9 San Francisco State track & field team earned four more All-America awards on Saturday as the NCAA Outdoor Championships concluded the 2018 campaign.
"We had a good year and are pleased that we keep improving nationally as a team," said Head Coach
Kendra Reimer. "This team has a lot of talent and fire power, and they will come back even stronger next year."
SF State earned 21 points and placed tenth during the NCAA Championships, both of which are program bests.
The 4x100 of
Janelle Bandayrel,
Maya Cook,
Alexis Henry, and
Jazmine Smith became the first All-Americans of the day for SF State. The quartet took fourth with a program-record time of 45.02, besting their previous program record of 45.45 that they set in the preliminary round two days ago. This 4x100 is the first group of outdoor All-Americans for the Gators since 2014 when Janesha Anthony, Ashley Black, Maya Cabiness, and Hilary King took home the honor.
Next came
Monisha Lewis, who took silver in the 100m hurdles with a program-best time of 13.41, topping her previous program record that she set less than a day before of 13.49. Lewis becomes the first All-American Gator in the 100m hurdles since Jessica Johnson in 1991.
Bianca Bryant earned her first career All-America award in the 800m, crossing in 2:07.69 to take sixth place. She is the first 800m All-American in Gator history since Lache Bailey in 2001.
Courtney Massengale wrapped up the weekend for the Gators earning her second career All-America award in discus, after winning Second Team honors last year. She took fifth in the event, tossing a 51.37m which she notched on her first throw of the final round. She becomes the second Gator in program history to be a multiple All-American in discus, joining Luisa Musika who earned the plaudit in 2009 and 2010.
Destiny Mack-Talalemotu threw a 14.64m on her second throw in shot put, however she just missed the cutoff to advance to the final round.
The First-Team All-America honors in five different events are the most in Gator history. Yesterday
Devanique Brown became the first Heptathlon All-American in Gator history.
Saturday caps off a historical season for SF State. The Gators opened the year ranked number one in the nation and have maintained a top-ten ranking the entire season. Earlier this month they won the CCAA Championship for the first time in program history while earning 15 All-CCAA honors including 11 first-place finishes. Coach Reimer was named the CCAA Coach of the Year for the second-straight season in addition to being named the USTFCCCA West Region Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. SF State also had nine USTFCCCAA All-Region honorees and 21 overall honors, both of which are program highs.
