Where are they now? The women's NCAA 100 meter dash Champions.

The title of the fastest woman in college is normally given to the Division 1 NCAA champion in the 100 meter dash. Winning that event is perhaps the most challenging of all the events at the NCAAs because before you can even get to the final, you have to run three rounds of preliminaries between the regional weekend and national event itself. So where are they now? The fastest women in the entire NCAAs throughout the past decade? Because winning the NCAA meet is not expected to be the end of your track career, but rather the moment when it truly gets started.

To qualify for this list the criteria is simple. You have to win the NCAA Division 1 championship final in the 100 meter dash. Which is extremely hard to do, because incredibly talented sprinters on the world stage right now, like Gabby Thomas, Abby Steiner, and Twanisha Terry have never done it. I will count backwards from the present day, for the last decade into the 2010s so that nobody, or their accomplishments is left out.

Julien Alfred - Texas (2022)

In 2022 Julien Alfred of Texas won the 100 meter dash in a wind legal 11.02 seconds, but she is way faster than that. She made the semifinals of the 100 at the world championships representing Saint Lucia. In 2023 season she smashed the indoor 60 meter and 200 meter collegiate records, and opened her outdoor season running a wind assisted 100 meter dash of 10.72 which would have made her the new collegiate record holder in that event. The best is yet to come for Julien both in the NCAA and beyond.

Cambrea Sturgis - North Carolina A&T (2021)

However, the year 2021 belongs to Cambrea Sturgis of North Carolina A&T. She ran 10.74 slightly wind aided to win the NCAAs and completed the double winning the 200 meter dash as well. But she didn’t make a final in either event at the US Olympic trials, that year. She turned pro signing with Adidas leaving college early, and actually made the USA 200 meter final in 2022. Today she is back on the track in 2023 hoping to run faster than her collegiate personal bests.

Sha’carri RIchardson - LSU (2019)

In 2020 there was not NCAA championship outdoors and we all know why, so 2019 is the next champion on this list. That is when a woman who needs no introduction Sha’carri Richardson of LSU as a freshman, not only won the NCAA meet, but set the collegiate record when she did. She ran a wind legal 10.75 and turned professional signing with Nike immediately thereafter. Since that time she has become one of the sports most recognizable faces, winning the Olympic trials in 2021 in the 100 meter dash, and then getting disqualified days later for a drug violation. She is back on the track in 2023 running some of the best times of her career wind aided, so the best might be yet to come in her career.

Aleia Hobbs - LSU (2018)

The 2018 season went to another LSU Tiger Aleia Hobbs. She ran 11.01 into a minus headwind to win the 100 meter dash. She was only getting started because she won the USA meet that same year, and has since gone on to become a world champion in the 4x100 meter relay and a world championship finalist in the 100 meter dash. She’s become a threat to run world leading times in both the 60 meter and 100 meter dashes, and she is still going strong in 2023 coming off of a USA indoor championship in the 60.

Mikiah Brisce - LSU (2017)

The year 2017 was the beginning of LSU’s 100 meter dominance, because they own their first of 3 titles in a row with Mikiah Brisco. She ran a wind legal 10.96 to get the victory and returned for her senior year in college where she would actually get sixth in the 2018 NCAAs. Since turning pro her biggest accomplishment was actually a 60 meter silver medal at the world championships in 2022. Which is even more surprising because she was unattached when she did it. She is still competing in 2023 looking to make her first international team in the 100 meter dash.

Ariana Washington - Oregon (2016)

Before all the LSU dominance it was a freshman Ariana Washington of Oregon who won the NCAA 100 by 1 hundredth of a second in 2016 with a wind assisted 10.95. She would continue running in college through 2018 and actually make the World Championships in the 100 in 2017. But she never won another NCAA championship obviously. Interestingly enough she never competed officially after 2018, one of only 2 women on this list not to run professionally after college.

Jenna Prandini - Oregon (2015)

The year 2015 belonged to another Oregon Duck, Jenna Prandini who won the 100 coincidentally in another wind aided time of 10.96 by a hundredth of a second. She came back to college the year after and lost to her teammate at the NCAAs. But she made the Olympic team in the 200 meter in 2016. Years later she is still on the track, most recently winning a 4x1 world championship in 2022, and she’s back on the track in 2023.

Remona Burchell - Alabama (2014)

In 2014 it was Remona Burchell of Alabama who broke through to win the NCAA 100 in 11.25 sprinting into a strong headwind. She continued running in college through 2018 but did not run at NCAAs after that. Representing Jamaica she has competed internationally for years, winning medals at the Olympics and world championships in the 4x100 meter relay. She primarily runs races out of Jamaica in the present day and is back on the track again in 2023.

English Gardner - Oregon (2012/2013)

One full decade ago, it was English Gardner of Oregon who won the Ducks their third and forth 100 meter title of the decade, one more than LSU. As a junior she ran 10.96 to win the title wind legal, a repeat from her championship the year before where she ran 11.10. She would go on to win the 2016 US Olympic trials and make the Olympic finals. She has won world championship and Olympic medals specifically in the 4x100m relay. She has had one of the longest careers in the modern era, and she is still on the track in 2023, even if her days of running new personal bests might be over.

The Bottom Line

Winning an NCAA championship at the Division 1 level is a very big deal. Oregon and LSU have owned the 100 meter dash for the better part of the past decade. For anyone who wins one, it might be the greatest achievement for the track and field career, and for others only the beginning. There is no way for us as fans to know which way things may go. But one thing is for certain, if you are an NCAA champion, especially in the 100 meter dash. We will always be watching you, until you hang up your spikes for that last race of your career.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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