North Carolina A&T's Lawrence Is Still Competing

GREENSBORO, North Carolina  -- Senior Desmond Lawrence will not be hanging up his track spikes for football cleats just yet. Lawrence still has some work to do on the track before putting an end to his collegiate outdoor career. He qualified to compete in the 100 meters at the 2014 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., at Hornet Stadium.

The 100 is scheduled to begin Thursday night at 10:25 EST. Lawrence will be up against tough competition. The qualifying mark for the 100 is 10.20. If 32 runners do not have the qualifying mark, the organization takes the next fastest times until the 32 slots are filled. Lawrence’s best time was without aid from the wind was 10.24, ran in the finals of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier this month.  

“I’m feeling real excited about this meet coming up, it gives me an opportunity to run a faster time in the 100,” said Lawrence.  

Lawrence will have the chance to compete against some of the top collegiate and professional track athletes in the country. Former North Carolina A&T track and field athlete Calesio Newman will also be competing.

In preparation, Lawrence did short workouts followed by allowing his body to recover with off days coupled with working on getting out of the starting blocks.

“At this late part of the season with a sprinter like Desmond, what you want to do is continue working on your strengths while continuously improving your weakness,” said Duane Ross, director of track and field programs. “We don’t want to focus too much on any small weakness because you don’t want to change the game plan completely. At this late junction it’s also about fine tuning.”

As an example, Ross said Lawrence only hit the weights one time this week. Everything they do is race modeling so Lawrence can continue to know what he needs to work on in his race. Lawrence’s body is learning what it needs to do consistently, so the All-American sprinter can have the proper technique during competition.

“He should be able to run 10.1, 10.0 rolling out of bed at this point,” said Ross. 

Lawrence was named an All-American after qualifying for the finals of the 100 meters at the NCAA championships, where he placed seventh by running a 10.24. He was also the MEAC’s 60 and 100 meters champion this indoor and outdoor season. 

Watch Live Schedule of Events

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION