Feb. 28, 2003

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Freshman Rafeeq Curry was honored as the 2003 ACC Rookie of the Year on Friday, while head coach Terry Long was named the men's ACC Coach of the Year as voted on by the league's nine head coaches.

Curry, the first-ever Seminole named Rookie of the Year during the indoor track and field season, was crowned ACC champion in the triple jump competition after recording an NCAA provisional mark of 52' 0". He also ran a leg on the 4x400 relay team for the Seminoles that came in first place at this year's ACC Indoor Championships. Curry established a career best mark in the triple jump at the Gator Invitational when he jumped to an NCAA automatic qualifying distance of 16.34m (53' 7.5"). The Miami, Fla. native is the current ACC leader in this event, as well as the top freshman in the nation.

Coach Long picks up his second men's ACC Coach of the Year honors after leading the men's track and field team to their second ACC indoor championship and first since 1994, at the Dick Taylor Track in Chapel Hill, NC last weekend. Florida State entered the final day of competition with a 16-point advantage over tournament host North Carolina, an advantage they would not relinquish as they finished a solid 24 points ahead of last year's champion, the Clemson Tigers. The 135.50 points posted by the Seminoles in this year's championships was the highest total ever accumulated by a Florida State men's team at the ACC Indoor Championships.