Morgan City grad wins national track title

Vernon Norwood never won a state title in high school or a major college title in the 400 meters.
That all changed Saturday, when Norwood captured the men’s 400-meter run at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championships at Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Norwood, an LSU track and field standout and 2011 Morgan City High School graduate, captured the event in his final indoor race as an LSU Tiger, sprinting to an indoor personal best of 45.31 seconds in Saturday’s final.
Now Norwood is ranked No. 2 in the world, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations.
He also is now the 10th-fastest 400-meter runner indoors in collegiate history and is the third LSU Tiger in program history to win an NCAA indoor title in the event.
In the first section of a two-section 400-meter final, Norwood finished in 45.31 ahead of Florida’s Glass (45.77) and LSU’s Quincy Downing (46.13).
In the second heat, Texas A&M’s duo of defending NCAA Indoor Champion Deon Lendore and Bralon Taplin, two of the quickest quarter-milers worldwide, finished in 45.81 and 45.55, respectively.
Norwod’s high school coach, Gary Johnson, who was a decorated triple jumpeel at the University of Arkansas, said this morning he was proud of Norwood.
“I talked with his mom, and she just called me crying,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘It’s paid off. All the sacrifice.’ It’s an amazing feeling.
“I want to know how he felt because I want to know if he felt like I did because it’s an amazing feeling and I don’t think it’s hit him yet.
“Because it doesn’t hit you yet. You’re just in the moment at that time, but I think maybe today or tomorrow it will really sink in to him that he’s actually not only national champion, but he’s No. 2 in the world.”