Senior sprinter Brent Gray closed out his career at Long Beach State with a bang on Friday evening as he established two school records en route to a sixth-place finish and All-America honors in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships held at McFerrin Athletic Center on the campus of Texas A&M.
In the preliminaries, Gray finished the race in 20.91 seconds, bettering his previous school record and placing second in his heat to qualify for the finals. The Carson, Calif., native then topped that performance with a time of 20.90 to take sixth overall in the final round.
“We are very proud of Brent and all of his accomplishments at Long Beach State,” said 49er head coach Andy Sythe. “He has brought tremendous ability and leadership to our program while rewriting the school record books and putting our name on the map at the national level.”
Gray has proven himself to be one of the best sprinters to ever don a 49er uniform, becoming just the fourth three-time All-American in program history. This marked his first indoor All-America honor, after achieving the status in each of his outdoor seasons at The Beach.
The two-time Big West Track Athlete of the Year was a back-to-back Big West champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes (2007-08), while also sweeping the two sprint events at the 2008 NCAA Regional meet. In addition, Gray is the three-time reigning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor champion in the 200m.
Gray leaves The Beach as the indoor school-record holder in the 60 (6.75) and 200 (20.90) and is also the top outdoor performer in the 100 (10.29) and 200 (20.51). In addition, Gray was a member of the 4×100 relay squad that ran a school-best 39.66 last year.
First-year sprint coach Jessica Branker helped guide Gray to the top eight finish as she coached her first All-American in her short career. Branker, a standout sprinter for Long Beach State (2004-08), made the transition into the coaching ranks this season.
Long Beach State continues its outdoor season at the USC Invitational, March 20-21.
Report From LBSU