The Road to Eugene: Sam Watts
6/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Outdoor Track
With three days to go before the NCAA Championships, GoFrogs.com takes a look at Sam Watts’ road to Eugene leading up to his berth in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Championships.
Watts, a junior from London, England, knows what it’s like to compete at multiple events at the NCAA Championships. At last year’s meet as a sophomore, he was on the 4x100 and 4x100 relay teams after just missing out in the 200-meter dash with a finish of 21st at 21.20.
2015 has been good for Watts. At the New Mexico Invitational on Jan. 31, he opened up the indoor slate in the 200 by winning the event at 20.69 seconds, which was the world-leading time at that point in the season. Two weeks later, he followed it up with a second-place time at 20.70 at the Tyson Invitational.
After a fifth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, Watts came into the NCAA Indoor Championships with the fifth-best time among qualifiers. Although he got a little dinged up in the finals, Watts posted an eighth-place time at 21.01 to earn First Team All-America honors heading into the outdoor portion of the season.
Watts wouldn’t run the 200 until April 3 in Waco, but not before helping set what would be a seasonal-best for the Horned Frogs in the 4x100 at 39.15 at the Texas Relays. At the Baylor Invitational, Watts posted a time of 20.83 in the 200 to finish second overall.
The following week, Watts tallied an all-conditions PR in the 100-meter dash behind a wind-aided 10.32 at the Wes Kittley Invitational. The race would be his last until May 2 when the Horned Frogs returned home for their final meet before conference.
At the Horned Frog Invitational, he improved his 200 time, finishing second at a mark of 20.72. His best of the season would come in the prelims of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, as he raced to a time of 20.68 seconds. He would earn a fifth-place score in the finals battling a nasty crosswind to a time of 21.27 seconds. Just before that, he ran the second leg of the Big 12 Champion 4x100 relay that tallied a time of 39.28 seconds.
He had a full plate once again heading into the NCAA West Prelims, representing TCU in three events: the 200 meters, 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Running out of lane two in the prelims, Watts grabbed a third-place time at 20.77 in his heat to automatically advance to the quarterfinals. This time in lane three, he battled his way back from a rough start to post a strong final 100 meters to record another top three finish to automatically send him through and punch his ticket to Eugene at 20.85 seconds.
In the first race of the day, Watts ran the second leg of the 4x100 relay team that finished second in their heat and third overall on the day, tying a seasonal-best of 39.15. That time also ranks third among all qualifiers from both regions, setting them up for what hopes to be an exciting NCAA Championships. The final race of the West Regionals for Watts and the Horned Frogs saw the 4x400 relay team claw their way into the final qualifying spot at 3:06.22.
Among TCU’s 20 national titles, only one has come from the 200-meter dash. In 2001, Kim Collins won the indoor championship in both the 60 and 200 meters thanks to times of 6.58 and 20.55, respectively. Collins still holds the school record in the 200-meter dash, set in that same year in Eugene, Oregon, of 20.08 seconds.
Watts has the opportunity to add the outdoor crown to TCU’s trophy case when he steps on the track for the 200 at 6:24 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 10.
