HAMPTON, Va. – During the 2005 Virginia Group AAA Eastern Region outdoor track & field meet, Bethel High coach Eddie Williams said that if his star runner, Francena McCorory, kept running the way she did that day, running an open 400-meter dash in 51 or 52 seconds wasn't out of the question.
What did McCorory do that day that was so special? When she took the baton as the anchor of Bethel's 4x400-meter relay team, six teams had already made the final transfer of the race. Meet officials estimated to the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) she was 70-80 meters behind the leader when she took the baton.
But McCorory passed everyone in front of her, overtaking Tierra Brown of Hampton High, a state champion in the 300-meter hurdles, with about 30 meters left. Thanks to McCorory's run, Bethel took the relay title, and the following week, the Bruins picked up their third straight outdoor state championship.
It was but one of many highlights for McCorory at Bethel; her high school career was so celebrated – the national-record 51.93 she ran in the 400-meter dash at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, Md. still stands today – that the Daily Press named her its Prep Athlete of the Decade on Dec. 26, 2009.
“I never really knew that I could (run track) nationally,” McCorory admitted.
Fast-forward five years, to March 13, 2010 in Fayetteville, Ark. McCorory, now a senior at Hampton University and defending NCAA champion, set school, collegiate and American records in the 400-meter dash when she smoked the NCAA field with a 50.54.
That time was the world's fastest, and it would've won the World Championships by more than half a second.
It was the fourth NCAA Division I track title in Lady Pirates history. Her two titles in the indoor 400-meter dash, the second of which earned McCorory (Hampton, Va.) the Division I Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Year award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), were added to a pair of triple jump championships Yvette Lewis won in 2006 and 2007.
“The first (NCAA title) was harder, I think,” McCorory said. “The first time around, I was in the unseeded heat, and I had to run hard to make sure Jessica (Beard, a sprinter at Texas A&M) couldn't beat my time.”
Beard and McCorory were almost teammates; McCorory fielded track offers from such schools as Texas A&M, LSU, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Cal, UCLA and Miami – a veritable who's-who of collegiate track & field.
But McCorory chose Hampton, despite mild ribbing from those around her.
“I was teased a little bit, people thought I was crazy,” McCorory said. “But I realized I was still just a poor little kid from Hampton, and I didn't need to leave those who have supported me over the years.”
On top of wanting to stay close to home, McCorory wanted to prove that she didn't need to attend one of the so-called “power schools” to achieve her athletic goals. The road was bumpy the first couple years, thanks to injuries and a pair of automobile accidents, but once her junior year rolled around, McCorory really hit her stride.
The stride actually started in the 2008 outdoor season, when McCorory won the MEAC title in the 400-meter dash with a 51.54. She parlayed that into a spot in the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Mexico in July 2008, running a 53.51 in the heats before a hamstring injury kept her out of the final.
Since the 2008-09 indoor season, McCorory has won nine MEAC titles; she was named the MEAC's Most Outstanding Runner in February when she won the 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay at the 2010 MEAC Indoor Championships. McCorory also won MEAC crowns in the 400-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay on May 8 in the 2010 MEAC Outdoor Championships, her efforts in the sprints helping the lady Pirates win their fifth straight outdoor MEAC crown.
Having received her bachelor's degree in psychology, McCorory is looking to start the path to her career as a mortician. Her desire to work in the field stemmed from a funeral McCorory attended as a high school junior for one of her aunts. The family wasn't pleased with the job that was done, and McCorory decided she didn't want anyone else to go through that.
“Families are already grieving,” she said. “Why add the stress of a poor mortician?”
McCorory plans to go to mortician school, a two-year process, starting this summer – joking that as a mortician, she'd have “really good job security” – but added that track & field will still be on her radar.
“I'll probably go pro eventually,” she said. “I think I'd be able to do both – run a mortuary and run track. Right now, I've got my eye on London in 2012.”
But first, there's the matter of unfinished business.
McCorory is also a three-time USTFCCA All-American in the 400-meter dash, and she appears set to add a fourth such accolade to her resume as the NCAA Division I East Regional begins this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Irwin Belk Track in Greensboro, N.C.
McCorory has yet to win an outdoor NCAA title, but she did finish third in the 400-meter dash last season with a 50.58. She currently holds four school records: the indoor 400-meter dash (50.54), indoor 500-meter run (1:10.74), outdoor 200-meter dash (22.92) and outdoor 400-meter dash (50.58).
“I don't really go out of my way to try and break the records,” McCorory said. “I set goals before the season and I think it would be nice to break the records, but it's not something I push myself to do. I just try to win races and championships.
“To me, all of these awards are a badge of honor, because of where I won them. I didn't have to leave to win them; I won them right here in my own back yard.”
