Colleges

FSU men poised to win first national track title

League dominance no longer enough, the 'Noles plan to make noise on a greater stage.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published June 7, 2006

No sooner had Bob Braman taken over as the Florida State men's track and field coach than he changed the long-established, well-defined mark of success.

No longer would league prominence suffice. This program would aim farther, higher.

"I always saw Florida State as a giant," said Braman, the former USF coach who came to FSU six years ago as the cross country coach and succeeded Terry Long as track coach three seasons later. "This was a program that could win a national championship."

And the Seminoles seem poised to hit that mark and claim their first title this weekend in Sacramento, Calif., completing a meteoric rise from a program that had barely been a player on the national stage. The two-time defending NCAA East Region champs have been top-ranked much of the spring and boast a deep, talented roster:

Former Tampa Baptist star Garrett Johnson (shot put, discus), Walter Dix (100- and 200-meter sprints), Rafeeq Curry (triple jump), Ricardo Chambers (400), Tom Lancashire (1,500), Andrew Lemoncello (3,000-meter steeplechase), Greg Bolden (100), Michael Ray Garvin (200), Johnta Griffin (long jump) and Bolden, Ronald Wright, Garvin and Cedric Nabe (4x100 relay) all automatically qualified. Curry (long jump) and Elliott Wood and Javier Garcia-Tunon (400 hurdles) earned at-large spots. All are capable of finishing in the top eight and earning points.

"The expectation of everyone, from the coaches to the walk-ons who may not ever travel but do an amazing job of pushing and challenging those who do travel, has changed," said Johnson, who is heading for Oxford, England, in the fall on a Rhodes Scholarship. "The environment has changed."

Beginning in the late 1970s, FSU was indeed an outdoor track and field giant - in its conference. The Seminoles won the Metro Conference title 15 straight years (1977-91).

Nationally? Not so much.

But the Seminoles ended their Metro time by missing out on the national outdoor meet four straight years. Then, during their first decade (1992-2001) in the ACC, the Seminoles didn't win a single outdoor title and failed to crack the NCAA Top 20. Long ended his FSU coaching days by leading the Seminoles to consecutive ACC titles (2002, 2003) and re-establishing the program's promise.

The track recently was redone for about $3.5-million and, next year at this time, the school plans to begin a $1.5-million renovation to the aging locker rooms and buildings.

"That is a big step," athletic director Dave Hart said.

So, too, was the selection of Braman, who had a remarkable 17-year run at USF, building that school's cash-strapped cross country and track programs through sheer will, to succeed Long in July 2003.

"The best part of what Bob brings is his energy," said Charlie Carr, FSU's senior associate athletic director who oversees the running programs. "He brings the best out of everybody."

When it came time to make a college choice in 2002, Curry had established himself as one of the nation's top triple jumpers. He competed in both the USA Junior National meet and the World Junior Championships. Braman and his staff pitched their big-time vision to him.

"Other coaches didn't really talk about building a (national) program," said Curry, a senior. "They were eager to really build that."

He took the leap of faith that he could be part of it.

"I actually didn't think I'd see it in my time here," he said. "I was pretty sure I'd see it after I graduated, but the program has turned around quickly."

Each recruiting success, be it landing a Curry or a Johnson, led to another.

And another. And another. ...

"When you have people who are doing amazing things, you want to be part of that club," Johnson said. Dix, defending champion in perhaps the glamorous outdoor event (100 meters), has a magnetic pull akin to what a Deion Sanders or Charlie Ward or Peter Warrick meant to football.

"Every year, we've gone after those kind of guys; we just hadn't landed them (as frequently) in the past," sprints coach Ken Harnden said. "The hardest thing for me was just getting in the door. A lot of kids were saying, "I'm not looking at you guys; you're not where I want to be.' Now, we're getting those looks. We're also getting phone calls from kids saying, "Hey, this is the place I want to be. You guys are the up-and-coming program.' "

FSU continued to win league titles; all three under Braman and five straight in all. It also has won the past two indoor ACC championships. But nationally, the success has been far more dramatic. The Seminoles, who finished tied for 57th in the NCAA outdoor championships in 2003, tied for 20th in 2004, then tied for fourth a year ago. They also finished a best-ever third at the NCAA indoor meet in March.

"This has not been an overnight thing; it's been a four-, five-year thing," Braman said. "We as a staff owe gratitude to Terry Long. He brought us all in and had the program flying pretty well. ... We then upped the goals."

And have taken "giant" strides.

[Last modified June 7, 2006, 02:00:17]