Lions earn 13 Indoor All-American honors from USTFCCCA.

NEW ORLEANS – All-Americans for the 2020 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season were announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Texas A&M University-Commerce programs earned 13 All-American honors this season, with seven men’s honors and six women’s honors. 

Standard policies dictate that All-America honors are awarded based on classifications of performance at the NCAA Championships. With the cancellation of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, the USTFCCCA Executive Committee adopted the following criteria:

• Based on the posted start list for the national championships announced by the NCAA, the following will be recognized as All-America for the 2020 indoor track & field season:
  • Individual events: ALL student-athletes listed on the start list for the anticipated event
  • Relay events: The four student-athletes per anticipated relay who produced the performance that was declared and accepted into their event.
• There will not be a distinction between “first-team” or “second-team” to these recognitions.

Two women earned a pair of honors as Kiara Brown (Dallas – Carter), and Minna Svaerd (Karlstad, Sweden) were honored for their qualification in individual events. It includes part of the 4×400 meter relay team with Danielle Nicholson (McKinney – North) and Ro’Nisha Simpson (Tatum). Brown was a qualifier in the 200-meter dash, and Svaerd was a qualifier in the 400-meter dash. 

Svaerd now has nine career All-American honors in five season segments and her third season segment with multiple All-American distinctions. She has been a 4×400 meter relay All-American in 2018, 2019, and 2020 indoor seasons and a 400-meter dash All-American in the 2019 and 2020 indoor seasons. 

Simpson earns her fourth 4×400 meter relay All-American honor, and third in the indoor competition (2018, 2019, and 2020). 

On the men’s list, seven Lions earned All-American distinction. 

Dorian Andrews (Dallas – Skyline) earned his third career All-American hurdle honor. Andrews was also an indoor 60-meter hurdle All-American in 2018 and an outdoor All-American in the 110-meter hurdles in 2019. 

Josh Boateng (St. George’s, Grenada) earns his third career All-American honor and second in the indoor shot put. He is also a 2019 outdoor All-American in the discus throw. 

Malcolm Woods (Sachse) earned his third career All-American distinction in a third different event. He won the award this year for his qualification in the 60-meter dash after earning All-American honors in the 2017 outdoor 4×100 meter relay and the 2018 outdoor 200-meter dash. 

First-time All-Americans for the Lions were Lamarion Arnold (Montgomery, Ala.) in the 200-meter dash, Trayveon Franklin (Montgomery, Texas) in the triple jump, and Timon Kemboi (Eldoret, Kenya) and Octopias Ndiwa (Eldoret, Kenya) in the 800-meter run.