Florida State’s men clinched back-to-back national track & field team titles in the NCAA Championships after stellar performances in the 200m and 400m.
Ricardo Chambers (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) ran solid in the 400m finals, getting out to a good start and holding his position through the first 200m. The race heated up in the final 50-meters as Chambers was approached by Southern California’s Lionel Larry. At the line, Chambers took to the gold in 44.66, just four one-hundredths of a seconds ahead of Larry.
To celebrate the victory, the team had an autograph session Monday evening, followed by lighting of the Unconquered statue.
Next up was the event many had been waiting for, Walter Dix (Coral Springs, Fla.) in the 200m finals. Dix ran in lane six with fellow Seminole Charles Clark (Virginia Beach, Va.) in lane seven.
Dix had a great start and came tearing around the turn to maintain the lead for the final 100 meters and crossed the line in 20.48 to defend his title and clinch the team championship for the men. "[Winning the 100m and 200m] is something I’ve been working on since my freshman year," Dix said. "So now I’ve got that out of the way. I
still have the 100 meter record to get, but that’s my next thing to do."
With the men’s win secured, the women had chances to score in the 1,500m, 4x100m relay and triple jump.
Sophomore Susan Kuijken (Nijmejor, Netherlands) ran a school record 4:15.68 to qualify in the 1,500m on Thursday and came back to break her own time with a second-place finish of 4:11.34.
Keyla Smith (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Kandia Batchelor (Tampa, Fla.), India Pettus (Cleveland, Oh.), and Alycia Williams (Palm Coast, Fla.) took to the track in the 4x400m finals after qualifying seventh on Thursday. The ladies would finish in the seventh spot with a season-best time of 3:31.10, adding two points for the women.
The final points came from Alyce Williams (Palm Coast, Fla.) after her sixth-place finish in the triple jump (43’2.50"/13.17m) to bring the team score to 19.
The women finished No. 14 overall, the same spot as last season but this year they improved their score by one point.