Mahwah, NJ: Assistant track and field coach,
Ackeme Brown, and senior
Cheickna Traore have been named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Metro Region Assistant Coach of the Year and Metro Region Track Athlete of the Year, respectively. The honors were announced this afternoon by the USTFCCCA.
USTFCCCA Release
Brown, who is in his first year as the first ever full-time assistant track & field coach, has guided multiple student-athletes during his tenure to great success. Most notably, Brown has mentored Traore, who is a 5x NCAA All-American and two-time NCAA Champion on the track. Traore and fellow teammate,
Gbarper Dwah, will be headed to the NCAA Outdoor Championships later this week to compete for national titles in both the 100m and 200m races. Traore enters the 200m race with the NCAA DIII record of 20.49 seconds.
This season alone, Brown has coached Traore to NJAC Individual Titles in the indoor 60m and 200m races while being a part of the indoor 4x400m relay team which placed second. The team was made up of
Terrell Lockett, Traore,
Max Dubac and
Kenyon Fenderson. At the NJAC Outdoor Championships, which Ramapo hosted, Traore won the 100m and 200m races while the 4x400m relay team also won the NJAC crown. The team was once again made up of Lockett, Traore, Dubac and Fenderson. On the women's side, Dwah was named NJAC Indoor Outstanding Track Athlete of the Championships. Dwah won the 60m dash and was runner-up in the 200m dash while the 4x400m relay team was also runner-up. The team was made up of Dwah,
Dina Ayoub,
Barbara Exilus,
Rebecca Kneppel. At the Outdoor Championships, Dwah won the 100m dash while Kneppel placed third overall in the 400m dash. The women's 4x100m relay team also placed third overall as the team was made up of Exilus, Kneppel,
Meredith Yaskovic and Dwah.
Traore, who has re-written the Ramapo College sprint record books, earns his second straight major USTFCCCA Outdoor Metro Region honor of his career. He sweeps the 2022-2023 Metro Region awards after earning the same during the indoor season. Traore and Dwah will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships this Thursday in the prelims of the 200m dash while the trials of the 100m dash will be held on Friday. If they advance and qualify for the finals, they will be held on Saturday, May 27
th.
Stay up to date with the NCAA Championships by following @RCNJAthletics on social media and www.ramapoathletics.com.
