What can really happen in four and a half minutes?
If your name is Tiffany McWilliams, you can win an NCAA championship.
McWilliams won the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championship in the mile run with her career-best time of 4:32.24 to dethrone the defending champion, Johana Nilsson, of Northern Arizona.
McWilliams traveled with head coach Al Schmidt to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the preliminaries Friday, March 12 and the finals Saturday, March 13. The event took place at the Randall Tyson Track Center for the fifth straight year.
In the prelims, McWilliams turned in a time of 4:39.58, finishing second behind Nilsson’s time of 4:38.26. McWilliams marked her national title the very next day during the finals where she finished on top.
“I was happy going into the race,” McWilliams said. “I was not expecting to win.”
McWilliams added: “I was nervous, but I just stayed focused and I was happy to represent Mississippi State University well.”
Schmidt said that the win will help McWilliams regain respect. “Since Tiffany had a tough January and February with medical problems, she received a lot of attention and criticism around the country; it was really satisfying to see her win after all of the criticizing she got,” he said.
Schmidt added: “Tiffany hung in there and beat the defending champion. She made her competition run hard because she set a fast pace early. Nilsson tried passing her there in the end, but Tiffany just put her away.”
McWilliams is now fourth in the world and leads the country in the mile at the collegiate and professional levels.
“Tiffany’s accomplishments are outstanding, especially with her being just a junior in college,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said McWilliams took joy in winning the title for MSU.
“She loves this place,” he said.