FSU superstar Cunningham eyes history at NCAA track and field meet
When he steps on the track today in Eugene, Ore., for the semifinals of the 110-meter hurdles, Florida State track superstar Trey Cunningham knows all eyes will be on him.
They'll also be on the clock. Because when Cunningham races these days, there's a good chance he's going to do something historic.
And this week, he very well might run faster than anyone ever has at the NCAA Championships.
"The first goal is to win the race," Cunningham said. "The second goal is to break the collegiate record. It's 12.98. ... And if 12.97.4 blasts up on the wall when we're done, I'm here for it.
"But if it happens in the preliminary rounds, great. If it happens in the final, great. If it happens in both, that's even better."
These are the possibilities that come when Cunningham competes these days.
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The Florida State senior is in the midst of putting together one of the greatest all-time seasons by a collegiate hurdler.
He has already won the NCAA Indoor 60-meter championship with a time of 7.38 -- which was the 11th-fastest time ever recorded by a human and the second-fastest in NCAA history.
Then he moved to the outdoor season, where he qualified for nationals in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.07. Into a 1.5-mile per hour headwind.
To put that in perspective, his time was the fastest in the history of the sport when running into a headwind that strong.
"I looked up at the clock," Cunningham said about that race in Bloomington, Ind. "I was like, 'All right. 13.07. We've been chasing 13.0 this year. I'm going to keep going faster.' But then I saw the wind, and that's when I lost it."
Because that's when he knew what he did was historic.
Now, he's hoping to make more history in Eugene, where he and his teammates are chasing individual titles and will perhaps contend for a team national championship as well.
Cunningham's journey to this point -- becoming a superstar hurdler who is a heavy favorite to capture his second national championship of the season -- has been a unique one.
He became a legend in the state of Alabama for his high school exploits. He won a staggering 24 state titles at Winfield City High School, including 20 individual championships. He then broke the U20 world record in the 60-meter hurdles as a 17-year-old.
When he signed with FSU, he was the most accomplished prep hurdler in program history. By far.
"The times I was running, it wasn't just barely breaking the record," Cunningham said. "It was by like a whole 10th (of a second), which if half a hurdle. It was insane what I was doing at the time."
And with that came a heap of expectations.
When Cunningham spoke with us on "Wake Up Warchant," he was asked what it was like to be expected to win every race he entered this season -- including the final one in Eugene.
He said that pressure is actually not as intense as what he experienced when he arrived on the college scene.
"I came in with the junior world record, and people were just expecting me to blow it out of the water the first race," Cunningham said. "And I was going to be like a one-and-done kid, like in basketball. So, I think that pressure weighed on me a lot.
"But now it's fine. I can do my own thing. It's gonna happen when it happens."
The potential one-and-done phenom lasted four more years.
"We're five-and-done now," he said with a laugh. "And we've got a piece of paper that says I'm educated, too."
It's not as if Cunningham wasn't really good as a freshman and sophomore and junior. He was. He has won a whole slew of honors -- from ACC Freshman of the Year to ACC Track and Field Performer of the year (multiple times) -- and he has garnered a boatload of All-America honors.
But until this past indoor season, he had never won an individual title.
"That race, I felt more pressure about the number I was running," Cunningham said, noting that most observers were focused on whether he could break the all-time NCAA record. "I knew I could win. No one was near me the entire year. But at the same time, it was relieving to finally win it."
Starting today, he'll be chasing that 12.98. And he'll be chasing that second national championship.
Cunningham will be running on the same track where the U.S. Championships and the World Championships will be held later this year. So, there's a good chance the kid from Alabama might be spending some serious time in the Pacific Northwest in the coming weeks and months.
And as long as he keeps running like this -- and getting continually faster -- he definitely plans on being in Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games.
"Oh, for sure," the 23-year-old Cunningham said. "It's two years way. So, that's like the blink of an eye really. It's definitely in the bag. I hope I'm still running for L.A. in '28. And after that, we'll see how long I run. Because that will probably be Year 8 of a professional career. So, maybe I'll still be kicking at 35."
Here is more from FSU's official website about the schedule of events and TV availability.
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