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Seven student-athletes from the men’s track and field team will compete in the NCAA Championships, the most ever at one single championship in the past 26 years of LBSU history.

Willie Alexander (Triple Jump), Michael Montgomery (Pole Vault), Chris Low (800m) and men’s 4x400 relay team members Dylan McCloskey, Cameron Glasgow, Michael Perez-Rogers and Jahmani Lockett qualified for the championships last week at the Division I West Preliminary in Austin, Texas.

For Coach Andy Sythe, qualifying seven athletes is a new achievement, but more importantly signifies a shift in mentality for the team.

“Last year we ran scared at regionals, and this year we’re running determined,” Sythe said about the group of juniors and seniors he says have matured as athletes. When the team saw jumper Willie Alexander lead four out of six rounds of competition as a sophomore at last year’s Championships, it taught the team that anything can happen. Alexander ultimately came away with second place after falling short in the last round, but it made the team believe winning wasn’t just a possibility.

“Now we expect to do well, and you can see it in the determination,” Sythe said. "

The 4x400 relay team embodied that spirit of determination at the prelims, where in their race to qualify, they managed to blow past the 32-year-old conference record and university record with a time of 3:06.20. They took third in their heat and placed 11^th overall, beating teams that are known for making it to the national championship finals.

Junior Dylan McCloskey said he and his teammates were just running to win. They didn’t find out that they’d broken any records until they returned to Long Beach. The team, he said, plans to train hard this weekend, in the same way that they’ve trained all year.

“What we’ve learned through these rounds in the NCAA is: don’t do anything extra-ordinary,” he said. “Don’t think about anyone else, just worry about what you do and your team.”

And one of their goals as they go to Championships on June 10-13: “Hopefully put a better image on Long Beach State Track and Field, and tell them that we belong with the big dogs,” McCloskey said.

Coach Sythe is confident that the team “can really do something” this year.

“This group is a bunch of overcomers,” he said. “They make their own fate. They make their own destiny. That’s truly what we are and how we do things."

Written by Sharon Hong