Florida State's Shenese Walker sprints to historic NCAA title win
· Yahoo Sports
Florida State senior Shenese Walker captured her first NCAA outdoor 100-meter title Saturday, sprinting to victory at Hayward Field and securing her second national championship in as many seasons.
Visit milkshake.it.com for more information.
Walker, a Jamaican native, clocked 10.88 seconds in the final to edge Georgia’s Adaejah Hodge, the world leader entering the meet. She advanced out of the preliminaries with the third-fastest qualifying time of 10.94.
With the win, Walker became the first Atlantic Coast Conference women’s sprinter in the modern era to claim both the indoor 60 meters and outdoor 100 meters in the same year. She also delivered Florida State its third national title in the event and the first since Michelle Finn in 1985.
The start. The execution. The 𝐖𝐈𝐍 🙌#NoleFamily | #OneTribepic.twitter.com/ts06ZtJcHf
— Florida State T&F/XC (@FSU_Track) June 14, 2026
“Championship racing is all about winning,” Head coach Matt Kane said. “There have been crazy times all week, but this is about the win. She dominated an amazing field, and I can’t think of a better way for Shenese to cap her career as a Seminole.”
Walker’s victory marked Florida State’s 22nd individual national champion and the program’s first since Colleen Quigley in 2015.
Earlier in the evening, Walker helped lead the Seminoles’ 4x100-meter relay team — Lucy May Sleeman, Walker, Liana Tyson and Micayah Holland — to first-team All-America honors. The group finished sixth in 42.81 seconds, the third-fastest time in program history and the team’s best NCAA finish in the event since 2022.
Kayla Pinkard closed her collegiate career with a second-team All-America performance in the triple jump, placing 10th with a mark of 13.26 meters — the best finish by a Seminole in the event since 2021.
Florida State finished 19th in the team standings with 15 points, highlighted by Walker’s historic sprint double and a strong showing across multiple events.
Three FSU men's athletes earn All-America Honors
On the men's side, the Seminoles left with three of their athletes earning All-America honors on Friday.
Shamar Reid earned first-team All-America honors for the first time, placing sixth in the discus with a throw of 62.30 meters. It matches the program’s highest finish in the event since Milton Ingraham in 2023. Reid also set a school record this season with a personal-best 65.87 meters to win the ACC title.
Andre Korbmacher and Zach Extine became the first Florida State duo to earn All-America honors in the men’s 110-meter hurdles at the same outdoor championships.
Korbmacher secured first-team honors with a seventh-place finish in 13.30 seconds. Extine closed his collegiate career with second-team honors, placing ninth in 13.59.
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don't hesitate to get in touch with him via email at [email protected] or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU's top sprinter Shenese Walker wins NCAA outdoor championship