Vols Track Star Christian Coleman Wins 100 and 200 Meters at NCAA Championships

(utsports.com) EUGENE, Oregon – Tennessee junior Christian Coleman became the second person in NCAA history to win four sprint national championships in one year as he won the 100m and 200m dashes on day three of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Historic Hayward Field on Friday.

After sweeping the 60m and 200m championships during the indoor season, he came back and won the 100m and 200m titles on Friday. Only #VFL Justin Gatlin has ever accomplished that feat as he pulled it off in 2002.

Coleman won the NCAA Championship in the 100m with a time of 10.04. The Atlanta native jumped out to a lead thanks to his lightning start and held on as he won by .08 seconds over Houston’s Cameron Burrell. Coleman had set the collegiate record during the prelims as he ran a time of 9.82 seconds. That was the fourth-fastest time by an American ever, and made Coleman the ninth-fastest person in the world. He wasn’t able to match that time as the race was run into a 2.1 m/s headwind.

Coleman became the first person to sweep the 60m and 100m races in the same year since Jeff Demps of Florida did it in 2010. Coleman’s title is the sixth in Tennessee history following Reggie Jones (1974), Sam Graddy (1984), Terry Scott (1985) and Justin Gatlin (2001 and 2002). Tennessee now has the second-most 100m National Champions in NCAA history, behind only USC’s eight titles.

Coleman had to come back 35 minutes after the end of the 100m and run in the 200m dash final. The Atlanta native, posted a time of 20.25 despite running into a 3.1 headwind. Coleman had a fierce challenge from LSU’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake. Coleman jumped out to the lead, but Mitchell-Blake made up ground on the straightaway, however Coleman was able to hold him off at the line as he won 20.25 to 20.29.

The 200m title was the fourth 200m championship in school history as Coleman joined Reggie Jones (1975) and Justin Gatlin (2001 & 2002). Tennessee now has 10 men’s sprint titles in school history, as they became the third school in the NCAA to hit that milestone as they joined USC (12) and Florida State (10).

This was Coleman’s fifth career NCAA Championship as he also claimed the indoor 200m title last season. Coleman now ranks second in Tennessee history with five individual national championships. Justin Gatlin notched six national titles during his Tennessee tenure. This is the third straight year that the 100m and 200m titles have been swept as Arkansas’ Jarrion Lawson (2016) and USC’s Andre De Grasse (2015) have done it the past two years.