‘Winning was the only option’: What they said after Ole Miss T&F made outdoor history
Ole Miss track and field pulled off a program-defining day over the weekend at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Rebels won three national titles on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon. World-class short sprinter McKenzie Long was responsible for two (the 100 and 200-meter) on her own. The other was the first for the Ole Miss women in the 4×100-meter outdoor relay in program history.
Long, Akilah Lewis, Gabrielle Matthews and Jahniya Browers posted the ninth-best time ever. Long ran the second leg.
“This year was so hard for me,” Long said. “I’m just so blessed to be here.”
Ole Miss finished in an all-time-best fifth place.
“It’s been a wonderful season,” ninth-year Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith said. “Totally, truly incredible. I’m honored to be a part of what these young ladies and gentlemen have done.
“To come out here and get fifth in this arena with the people they were competing against has just been amazing. The whole year building up to this has been nothing but fun to be a part of and exciting to watch unfold.”
𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 👑👑👑@kenzielong21 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/QE5BGPRED8
— Ole Miss Track & Field (@OleMissTrack) June 8, 2024
Long and Co. joined the 2017 Ole Miss men as the only national champion relays in program history.
“We knew the job wouldn’t be complete until we won,” Lewis said. “So, it was really satisfying to go out there and execute our race to bring home the title.
“I feel like, in a sense, we’ve been the underdogs all season because other schools have done this before. It’s our first time, so it was a great experience to go in there and execute.”
Long has been running, in part, to honor her mother, Tara Jones. Jones passed away during the past indoor season.
“My emotions were all over the place,” Long said. “Whenever I crossed the 200 line, I was balling my eyes out because, honestly, without grieving and without going through that process, I don’t think I could have found myself this season.”
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Long ran six world-class races in the span of 48 hours.
She never finished second.
Her win in the 100 was her first career NCAA individual title and the first for an Ole Miss man or woman in any one track and field outdoors event shorter than the 800-meter. She posted a world-leading 21.83 in the 200-meter. It’s 10th in U.S. history and No. 24 in the world.
Long is just the 15th woman in Division-I history to win both the 100 and 200 at TitleTown. She’s just the sixth-ever triple-crown winner.
“I definitely found myself this season,” Long said. “That really helped me grow as an athlete, grow as a person, and I’m just getting stronger every day.”
RELATED: Monday Morning Spitballing: Sprinter McKenzie Long is an Ole Miss phenom
The college season is now over.
Ole Miss athletes past and present now turn their attention to summer competition. Upcoming, in a return to Eugene, is the U.S. U20 Championships, as well as the Olympic Trials.
“I know we could have run faster because we’ve had better exchanges in the past, but once we got the stick around, I knew we would win,” Lewis said. “We have the best team and best chemistry. Winning today was the only option.”
“Running so comfortable like I did in the prelims gave me all the confidence coming into today,” Long said. “Yes, I was tired. My legs are tired. But I just told myself, ‘This is your last.’ I just pushed through.”
