FSU's Dajaz DeFrand, Alexandra Webster set program records in NCAA East Preliminaries
LEXINGTON, Ky.– The No. 19 Florida State women's outdoor track and field team qualified five student-athletes for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday as Dajaz DeFrand and Alexandra Webster set program records at the NCAA East Preliminaries.
In addition to DeFrand and Webster, Suus Altorf, Tyra Wilson, and Shenese Walker will compete at the nationals, which will be held June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
"I couldn't be prouder of our ladies this weekend," FSU head coach Bob Braman said. "We had a lot of great things happen today with several all-time performances. It was a great meet and great set up for nationals."
DeFrand set a new school and ACC record in the 100-meter, establishing a lifetime best of 10.94. She erased the standard set by Edidiong Odiong at 11.05 in 2022. She added 200 to her event list for Eugene after running another best time of 22.34 for third place. Her performance was the second-fastest in school history.
A sophomore, DeFrand will be racing in her second outdoor national meet after collecting five All-American honors between indoor and outdoor.
Webster finished with silver as the third seed in the 100 hurdles at 12.77, establishing a program record of 12.70. She erased the mark set by Cortney Jones in 2019 at 12.72.
Wilson advanced in the 400 hurdles, placing third with a lifetime best and second-fastest time in school history at 55.68.
Agnes McTighe competed in the 5,000 36th with a time of 16:36.03.
Walker competed alongside DeFrand in the 100, placing eighth with a career-best of 11.09. After earning All-American honors in 2023, Walker qualified for her second outdoor nationals.
"Dajaz was world class this weekend," Braman added. "Tyra, Alexandra and Shenese had phenomenal races as well."
Altorf qualified for her first nationals in the 1,500, placing 12th with a lifetime best and fourth-fastest time in FSU history at 4:10.13.
The 4x400 relay team of Kaelyaah Liburd, Wilson, Ava Klein, and Jaden Francis concluded the competition for the Noles, placing 17th with a time of 3:33.56.
The Noles will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championship on June 5-8 in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU W track and field sends five athletes to Eugene Oregon for nationals
