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2011 Track & Field Championship

Track & Field

4x400 Relay Team Crowned NCAA National Champions

NCAA National Champion 4x400 Relay Team
TURLOCK -- "It can't get any better than this."

Head coach Warren Edmonson summed it up best as the Cal State Dominguez Hills 4x400 relay team captured the program's first ever NCAA track and field National Championship in dominating fashion after anchor Nancy Blake pulled away down the final stretch to cement their place in history.  Blake, along with Breionna Jackson, Dora Baldwin and Chanel Parker saved their best effort for when it counted most, lowering their already school record by nearly two seconds.

It was the fifth All-American for Parker and second each for Jackson, Baldwin and Blake.

The entire night seemed to be building for the championships' final event with tonight's showers ceasing just prior to the race. Five-time defending 4x400 meter relay national champion Lincoln University lined up with others in the blocks looking to upset the top-seeded Toros.

The race began well as sophomore Jackson, the team's youngest member, made up an early stagger and handed off to Baldwin in third place.  When the teams meshed together on the backstretch, CSUDH trailed only Lincoln and was neck-and-neck with St. Augustine's coming into the final 100 meter of the second leg. 

That's when junior Baldwin did what she always seems to do, erasing the three-stride lead for Lincoln and handing the baton to Parker in front.  Parker, the senior member of the group, held the lead until the final 50 meters when Lincoln took a one-step lead heading into the final leg.

With 400 meters left, senior Blake left it all on the track as she blitzed Lincoln's anchor leg and turned a one-step deficit into a decisive lead within the first 100 meters.  From there, Blake left no doubt as she crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of her nearest competitor to bring the Toros their first national track and field championship.

Their time of 3:39.87 shattered the school record by nearly a second and a half and made this team of four All-Americans the holder of three of the top four times in CSUDH school history.

Earlier in the day, Parker repeated her 2009 finish of 7th place in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing in a time of 13.96.  It was her second 100 meter hurdle All-American, third hurdle event honor and fourth overall. 

This capped off a season in which she was named the 2011 CCAA Female Co-Athlete of the Meet, the 2011 CCAA 100 meter hurdles champion and part of both 2011 CCAA relay champions.

As a team, CSUDH finished tied for 20th with 12 points despite only having two point-scoring events.

Team Quotes:
Head Coach Edmonson: "We are #1 in the country!  We've been working from the beginning for this and everything was in place.  Every leg was outstanding.  I told them 'Don't worry about the elements because this is our time.  We are the best four girls here and if we work as a unit, we would do this.'  This is a lifetime memory for them."

Senior Blake: "No words really, this is a relief and I feel so blessed.  Just to be part of this team, there is no other group of girls like us.  When I took the baton trailing, I just thought, 'This is it.'  I was going to have to cross the finish line with my legs falling off.  We knew we were the underdog and it motivated us for sure.  All our efforts paid off this year."

Senior Parker: "This means the world to me and is the icing on the cake.  We've been working a long time for this.  This is my family and it's well-deserved for everyone.  Coach E was a part of this team and he is the reason we are as good as we are.  They should have had an extra trophy for him because every step we took, he took with us."

Junior Baldwin: "(On passing runners on the home stretch) I love passing people, I love chasing, and all I'm thinking is 'I got to get her'.  This is my family, and we are so close, our band is indescribable.  We are sisters and our relationship definitely helps us go fast.  We look up to coach E and did not want to disappoint him.  I'm so happy that we did it for coach and to see him get emotional when he was handing us the awards is indescribable."

Sophomore Jackson: "I can't believe it right now.  All I was thinking was 'I'm not going to stop until I hand off the baton'.  We have a tight, unique friendship and we all put our hearts into this.  We may not run at the same time but we feel each other out there, we share each other's feelings.  We put all we had into it."




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