Feb. 19, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Florida State's Ngoni Makusha has been chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Indoor Track Performer of the Week, while the Seminoles' Susan Kuijken and Miami's Krista Simkins have been named Co-Performers of the Week on the women's side.

Makusha, a freshman from Mandedza, Zimbabwe, competed at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., over the weekend. Up against some of the premier track and field talent in the nation, the Seminole rookie recorded a competition-winning mark of 26'0.25." With the performance, Makusha set FSU's indoor long jump record and became the first Seminole to ever best the 26-foot mark. He currently has the best jump in the ACC this season, the second best mark in the nation, and is an automatic qualifier for the 2008 NCAA Championships.

The Seminoles' Kuijken, who captured the league's individual cross country championship in October of 2007, took first place in the 3,000-meters at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., over the weekend. With her winning time of 9:08.75, the FSU junior from Nijmegen, Netherlands, broke the school record by more than five seconds and automatically qualified for the NCAAs. She now has the ACC's top 3,000-meter time, and the third-fastest time in the nation.

Miami's Simkins, who competed for just the second time this season at the Tyson Invitational over the weekend, was the top college finisher at the prestigious meet with a 400-meter time of 52.86. Simkins' performance gives her the league's top 400-meter time of the year, and the fourth-fastest time in the nation. After that performance, which achieved the NCAA provision qualifying mark for 2008, the Ambler, Pa., junior ran the second leg of the Hurricanes' 4 X 400-meter relay team that finished fourth at the meet, and improved upon its provisional mark from earlier this season with a 3:37.83 finish.

The Seminoles and Hurricanes will next compete at the 2008 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Championships will take place on Feb. 28 - March 1.