Osceola staff report

When Florida State sprinter Walter Dix takes to the track, his mind moves to the record books – where he is and where he could be.

When it comes to the NCAA 200-meter dash, he has a new place. Number one, all-time.

Dix destroyed the collegiate 200-meter record at last Saturday's NCAA East Regional Championships in Gainesville, winning the finals in 19.69 seconds. The old record, 19.75 seconds by Houston's Joe DeLoach, was set nearly 20 year ago.

By dominating the sprint events, the Seminoles nearly lapped the field in the team standings, winning with 91 points. The University of Florida finished second with 56 points. The Florida State women finished fifth overall at the regional championships with 36 points. Virginia Tech won with 89 points, followed by South Carolina, Florida and Penn State.

The Seminoles men and women's teams now will prepare for the NCAA Championships in California. The men will try to win their second straight national championship.

The highlight of the regional meet was Dix, a four-time national champion, leading the 200 from start to finish and sprinting his way into NCAA history.

"I knew I was going to have to push myself," Dix said in a university release. "I have wanted this all season and I just ran it like I always do; I ran my race tonight."

"It was a good day," he added. "God blessed me out there. I didn't expect to run that fast and I didn't think I was going as fast as I was, but when no one came up to me I knew I would go at least under 20."

FSU piled up points in the sprint events, with Dix, Greg Bolden and Michael Ray Garvin finishing first, second and third, respectively, in the 100-meter dash and Dix, Charles Clark and Garvin finishing first, second and fourth, respectively in the 200.

Still, Florida State sprint coach Ken Harnden couldn't believe Dix pulled away so much in the 200.

"It's unbelievable," Harnden said in a university release. "He knew it was there and I felt like I knew it was there, but when you see it's just a whole different ballgame. It's amazing to see the entire field so far behind, Charles Clark got second and he's not even in the (photo finish)."

Dix's time in the 100-meter finals, 10.05 seconds, also set a new school record and was five-hundredths of a second off the East Region record.

Bolden, Dix, Clark and Garvin weren't done, as they won the 4x100-meter relay, setting school and East Regional records in the process.

Ricardo Chambers pulled in another gold medal when he won the 400-meter dash. Chambers, who earlier ran the fastest 400 time in the nation in 2007, said he was just trying to do what he felt he was supposed to.

"I wasn't trying to do anything special," he said. "I just wanted to go out and win it and move on to an NCAA title."

The men got another first place from Andrew Lemoncello, who took gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

"I felt really good, which is usually a good thing coming into a race," he said. "I just ran that last 1,000 meters hard and I had to because all the guys were legit and pushed through the first 2,000."

The Florida State women did not come home with an individual regional title, but did garner a few silver medals to pump up their point total. Sophomore Susan Kuijken finished second in the 1,500-meter run, improving from the prelims, where she was seeded fifth.

Senior Barbara Parker finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and was one of three runners who finished under the previous best time in the East Region. Liz Wort of Duke won the event. Senior Alyce Williams finished second in the triple jump and also picked up a few more points for the Seminoles in running a leg on the fourth-place 4x400-meter relay team with Keyla Smith, Dana Massiah and Kandia Batchelor.

"What an exciting day for us," head coach Bob Braman said. "We came out and competed hard and I felt like we fed off each other, men and women. Our program is in good shape."