Liberty All-American hurdler Jovaine Atkinson has been named to the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country Team®.
Atkinson was voted to the second team.
A native of Spanish Town, Jamaica, Atkinson becomes the eighth CoSIDA Academic All-America® selection in Liberty men’s track & field program history and the first since David Scouten in 2016.
Atkinson is the third Liberty track & field student-athlete to earn both All-America and CoSIDA Academic All-America® recognition during his career, joining Clendon Henderson and Heather Sagan in that exclusive club.
Atkinson is Liberty’s third and final CoSIDA Academic All-America® honoree for the 2019-20 academic year, joining men’s soccer’s Ruben Garcia (second team) and volleyball’s Amelia Johnson (third team).
A redshirt senior, Atkinson recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics, maintaining a 3.82 GPA. He was voted the Flames’ first-ever ASUN Men’s Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in March. Atkinson also earned berths on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team® and the VaSID Academic All-State Team.
On the track, Atkinson won the men’s 60 hurdles at five of his seven competitions in 2020, highlighted by his victory in the ASUN final. He set a meet record with his 7.76 clocking during the ASUN 60 hurdles prelims. Atkinson’s season-best time of 7.75 ranked No. 18 in the NCAA at season’s end and puts him No. 2 in ASUN Conference history for the event.
Atkinson, who also placed third in the ASUN men’s 60 dash final, helped the Flames claim the ASUN men’s team championship for the second season in a row.