Record Eight Bulls Earn 11 All-American Honors from USTFCCCA; Freshman Benjamin’s Three Are the Most in a Season Ever for a Bull
Tampa native earns All-American in the long jump, 4X100 and 4X400 relays;
Six women and two men earn honors to shatter program record;
Bulls post seven program records, 40 top 10 all-time marks during 2021 outdoor season
TAMPA, FLA., JUNE 15, 2021 – In its second season under head coach Erik Jenkins, the USF track and field team set another program record with eight Bulls earning 11 All-America honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association during the recently completed 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field season.
“The All-American recognitions earned by our student-athletes are a testament to their hard work and dedication,” Jenkins said. “They have traversed a very unique year and persevered many challenges to earn the right to compete against the best at the national championship. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to steadily building upon this year’s success.”
Freshman Shaniya Benjamin (Tampa, Fla.) led the way for the Bulls, earning a program record three All-America team nods during the outdoor season. She was named second team All-American in the long jump and 4X100 relay and earned honorable mention honors in the 4X400 relay. This after she claimed American Athletic Conference titles in the long jump and 4X400 relay and set school records in all three events on the year.
On the outdoor season, Jenkins’ team posted seven program records overall (two men’s and five women’s) and 40 top 10 all-time program marks, 20 on both the men’s and women’s side.
The team’s 11 All-America team honors earned by eight athletes eclipsed the program’s previous high mark of six earned by five women during the 2000 outdoor season. The 11 honors earned in the 2021 season now mark 20 percent of the program’s current total of 53 All-American honors overall. The All-American honors, the first for all eight student-athletes, were earned by two freshman, one sophomore, three juniors and three seniors, six of which joined the program in the 2020-21 season and all but one joined in the last two seasons.
Benjamin’s three All-America team honors are the most-ever for a Bull in the outdoor season and she tied USF Athletics Hall of Famer Kerine Black for the most in a calendar year. Black earned two honors outdoors and one indoors in the 2000 season. Benjamin is the 10th woman to earn individual All-American honors for USF track and field and the first to do so since Courtney Anderson earned All-American honors in the high jump in 2013 and 2014.
The women’s 4X100-meter relay team of Zahria Allers-Liburd (Miami, Fla.), Benjamin, Gabrielle DesRosiers (Chicago, Ill.), and Kadesha Prescott (Port of Spain, Trinidad) earned second team All-America honors.
DesRosiers earned two All-America team honors as she also ran the lead off leg the 4X400 relay team, joining Benjamin, Patricija Roshofa (Limbazi, Latvia) and Jae’Nisa Heckstall (Phoenix) in earning honorable mention honors in the event.
On the men’s side, Duncan Agyemang (Kumasi, Ghana) was named to the honorable mention All-America team in the 400-meter hurdles and pole vaulter Stone Baker (New Port Richey, Fla.) also was named an honorable mention All-American.
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About USF Track and Field
The USF track and field team has earned 53 All-America selections and at least one All-American in 10 of the last 12 years, including a record eight athletes claiming 11 honors in 2021. Tampa native Shaniya Benjamin set a program record earning three All-American honors during the 2021 outdoor season, while triple jumper Matthew O’Neal, a 2016 graduate, became USF’s first six-time NCAA All-American. Bulls have posted two NCAA runner-up finishes since 2013 – O’Neal (triple jump, 2016) and Courtney Anderson (high jump, 2013). Head coach Erik Jenkins took over the program in 2020 and in the 2021 outdoor season the Bulls posted seven program records and 40 top 10 all-time program marks. USF hosted the 2018 NCAA Track and Field East Preliminary and the 2021 AAC Outdoor Championship at the USF Track and Field Stadium located on the east end of campus.
– #GoBulls –
