With only the LSU Invitational standing between junior sprinter Vernon Norwood and NCAA outdoor track and field postseason, the Morgan City, La., native knows he is far from where he began his collegiate career.
In fact, he is more than 800 miles away from Levelland, Texas, where he began his collegiate career.
After lettering four years as a sprinter and basketball player for Morgan City High School, Norwood credits South Plains Junior College for helping him progress and experience significant collegiate success.
Since joining LSU this year, Norwood has experienced winning a national champion as a relay team member and winning individual meet events.
“I had known South Plains as one of the best junior colleges in the country,” Norwood said. “They have had a lot of great coaches and great 400-meter runners that came out of there.”
While attending South Plains, Norwood won four national championships and was named a six-time NJCAA All-American. He gained attention after becoming the junior college national leader at the 400, highlighted by his winning performance at the 2013 Tyson Invitational while competing against Division I competition, including LSU.
Although Norwood speaks with admiration about his past school, he insists that he always wanted to be a Tiger.
“I figured I could go and build there and come back home after two years and be here,” Norwood said. “That was the plan, and it’s good to know the plan worked.”
Norwood could not compete when the 2014 indoor season began, as the long limbed junior tried to get over an early season injury that prevented him from running 100 percent until mid-February.
Norwood quickly made his presence felt wearing the purple and gold at the same meet he won the previous year representing South Plains.
Norwood repeated as the Tyson Invitational 400 champion, setting a new personal best of 45.81 seconds. To celebrate the feat, he next beat his time by 7/10 of a second while anchoring LSU’s 4×400 relay unit.
“It means a lot to us to now have Vernon on the team,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver. “After watching him contend in high school, we knew that he would be a real positive influence on a lot of the guys. He is always doing the right things on and off the track.”
Shaver said his sprinter’s determination to conquer high goals speaks to the type of worker Norwood is on and off the track.
“He’s always doing the things that we are asking him to do,” Shaver said. “When you have somebody like that, it means a lot to me personally to supply the state’s best talent with the best resources.”
Norwood and his indoor 4×400 teammates eventually captured first place overall at the NCAA Indoor Championship in March. Junior Quincy Downing, Norwood’s fellow sprinter and national champion, said Norwood’s demeanor blended instantly with the Tigers’.
“All the teammates here are family, and Vernon fit in immediately,” Downing said. “The team’s hunger to be great unites us, and Vernon displayed that attitude from the beginning. I know personally that he has pushed me to reach my full potential.”
Following his impressive arrival, Norwood has continued to dazzle by positioning himself for a successful postseason to conclude his first outdoor season racing for LSU.
According to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Norwood ranks No. 8 in the 400 and joins Downing and sophomore teammates Darrell Bush and Cyril Grayson as the No. 3 team in the NCAA 4×400 meter relays.
“My mindset coming into this was not to be making friends, although it has been nice learning everyone,” Norwood said. “My mind is still focused on running fast, doing what I have to do to win and working hard to help this team succeed.”
“After watching him contend in high school, we knew that he would be a real positive influence on a lot of the guys. He is always doing the right things on and off the track.”