TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida State hurdler Trey Cunningham has surely left his mark in Tallahassee, but a national title had always eluded him. That is, until the NCAA's indoor national championships over the weekend, when Cunningham, now a senior, finally captured that national championship.
He did it in fashion too, 7.38 seconds in the 60M, a personal best, and the 11th fastest time in the history of the sport. He's the first Seminole to win an indoor title since 2014.
"We have to bask in it a little bit and celebrate and then get back to work," he said Thursday. "The job is World Championships this year then outdoor NCAA's, and beyond after that. We've had people who are Olympians, national champions, we had team national champions. We have a wall here. You only get on it if you're a national champion. We have another wall, where you only get on it if you're a national champion and an Olympian, and that's the goal to get on the wall."
The win marks Cunningham's spot on that wall, and in Seminole history - finally.
"I was confident going in. The times have been there, and I've been beating everybody by at least a tenth the entire year, so that confidence was easy to carry into the final," he said. "It was kind of a relief. I did grow up in the fastest hurdle generation ever, so it's nice to finally get one. I can mark it off the calendar and more confidence heading into outdoor."
The accolades didn't stop with this weekend's championship. On Thursday, he was named the USTFCCCA South Region Track Athlete of the Year Thursday afternoon. This is the second time Cunningham has won the award after he won it in 2020. He's is the only male Nole to win the award.
Cunningham told us he won't be competing again until April, he's going to rest up a little bit before diving head first into the outdoor season.
