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Future is bright for FSU track program

Published by
Chris Nickinson   Jun 15th 2009, 12:26pm
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Future is bright for FSU track program

With a team like this, it's never too early to look ahead.

The Florida State men's track team came miraculously close to a fourth straight national championship on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. The Seminoles' 46 total team points were just two shy of first-place finisher Texas A&M and good enough for a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Of those 46 points that were scored, 45 came from underclassmen.

 

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"The only senior is (400 hurdler Javier Garcia-Tunon) and we lose Susan Kuijken on the women's side," FSU head coach Bob Braman said. "Those are pretty big people, but we're going to be ready to roll."

 

Freshman Jonathan Borlee won the 400 and ran the anchor leg of the winning 4x400 relay.

Junior Charles Clark won the 200-meter dash and ran the third leg of the same relay (which also consisted of sophomore Kevin Williams and freshman Kevin Borlee, who finished fourth in the 400 individual race as well).

Ngoni Makusha, just a sophomore, soared to his second straight long jump national championship and has a chance to become the first ever male to win the event four years in a row.

Along with these 2009 national point-scorers, the Seminoles should also return sophomore Gonzalo Barrioilhet and freshman Pelle Rietveld in the decathlon (both of whom had season-ending injuries), Brian Chibudu (who had the national-best distance heading into the regionals) in the long jump and the core of a 4x100 relay team that had the fastest time in the country before having an exchange problem in the regionals.

If the team stays healthy, and if it comes back intact, another national championship is a distinct possibility for Florida State.

"We've got some big men back," Braman said "Borlee, Borlee, Clark, Makusha — and oh by the way, (freshman sprinter) Brandon O'Conner is going to be pretty good someday. And we've got some young guys like (distance runner Matt) Leeder and (thrower Mike) Putnam. Those guys are going to be better. (Sprinter Maurice) Mitchell is going to be a lot, lot better."



Read the full article at: nolesports.tallahassee.com
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