Michael Cherry Season 2016

Events: 200M (IN: 21.07; OUT: 21.11), 400M (IN: 45.61; OUT: 44.67)

2017 World Championships Silver Medalist (4×400 Relay)
2-time NCAA Champion
8-time All-American
SEC Champion
2-time All-SEC
2-time SEC Men’s Runner of the Week

CAREER CAPSULE
One of the most decorated 400-meter runners in the history of the LSU Track & Field program … Twice crowned an NCAA Champion in the 4×400-meter relay and earned seven All-America honors in two seasons with the Tigers after transferring from Florida State for his junior season in 2016 … Earned one All-America honor in the relay while at Florida State … Helped the Tigers sweep NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor titles in the 4×400 relay during the 2016 season … Was a four-time NCAA medalist in the 400-meter dash … NCAA Indoor Silver Medalist in 2017 … Back-to-back NCAA Outdoor Bronze Medalist in 2016 and 2017 … Also crowned the NCAA Indoor Bronze Medalist in his first national final as an LSU Tiger in 2016 … An SEC Outdoor Champion in the 4×400 relay as a junior in 2016 … Earned two All-SEC honors while at LSU … Ended his collegiate career ranked No. 5 outdoors (44.67) and No. 6 indoors (45.61) on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list … Made his World Championships debut for the United States following his senior season in 2017, winning a silver medal as the third leg of Team USA’s 4×400-meter relay team.

2017
The NCAA Indoor Silver Medalist and NCAA Outdoor Bronze Medalist in the men’s 400-meter dash in his final season with the Tigers in 2017 … Took home All-America honors as the runner-up in the NCAA Indoor final with a seasonal-best time of 45.64 … Also led off the Tigers to an All-American fourth-place finish in the 4×400-meter relay at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships held at Texas A&M’s Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium … Split 46.25 on the foursome that placed fourth nationally with a time of 3 minutes, 5.53 seconds in the NCAA final … Placed 10th in 400-meter qualifying at the SEC Indoor Championships with a time of 46.35 … Helped the Tigers place fifth in the 4×400 relay at the SEC Indoor Championships with a seasonal-best time of 3:05.45 … Won invitational 400-meter titles at the Razorback Invitational and Tyson Invitational during the indoor season with times of 45.91 and 45.84, respectively, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas … Followed outdoors by winning the bronze medal in the 400-meter final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held at Oregon’s Hayward Field … Clocked 44.73 in the national semifinal before climbing the medal podium with a time of 44.77 for third place in the NCAA Outdoor final for his eighth career All-America honor … Broke 45 seconds four times during the collegiate season after also running 44.77 for first place in his season debut at the LSU Alumni Gold and 44.92 for second place overall in the national quarterfinals at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Lexington, Kentucky … Placed fourth in the 400-meter final at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a time of 45.09 in the conference final … An NCAA semifinalist in the 4×400-meter relay during the outdoor season … Split an eye-popping 43.96 on the anchor leg of LSU’s team that placed fourth at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a time of 3:02.84 … Also anchroed the Tigers to a seasonal-best time of 3:02.80 in a runner-up finish at the inaugural SEC Relays … Led off LSU’s winning 4×200-meter relay team at the Texas Relays that took home the title in 1:20.82 … Stepped onto the international stage following the collegiate season while running the 4×400-meter relay for the United States at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics held in London, England … Split 45.10 on the third leg of Team USA’s foursome that scored the World Championships silver medal with a time of 2:58.61 … Became LSU’s 32nd World Championship medalist all-time and eighth silver medalist in program history … Earned his spot in Team USA’s relay pool after placing sixth in the 400-meter final at the 2017 USA Track & Field Championships where he clocked a personal best of 44.67 in the final … Ended his collegiate career as the No. 5-ranked 400-meter runner outdoors on LSU’s all-time performance list.

2016
One of the NCAA’s elite 400-meter sprinters in his debut season with the Tigers in 2016 … Twice crowned an NCAA Champion as a member of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay team with a sweep of NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor titles … Also the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor bronze medalist in the 400 meters while running at the NCAA Championships … Split a team-best 45.49 on the third leg of the 4×400-meter relay team crowned the NCAA Indoor Champion as he teamed with Cyril Grayson, LaMar Bruton and Fitzroy Dunkley for a winning indoor seasonal best of 3:04.28 at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships held at the Birmingham Crossplex … Followed a run of 46.35 for the second-fastest time in qualifying with a run of 46.34 in the national final while being crowned the NCAA Indoor Bronze Medalist in the 400-meter dash … Ran his indoor PR of 45.61 in qualifying at the SEC Indoor Championships before finishing fifth in the final with a run of 46.28 … Ranked No. 6 on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list with his time of 45.61 … Won the invitational final of the 400 meters at the Razorback Invitational with a season-opening time of 45.78 to kick off his indoor season in the event … Honored as the SEC Men’s Runner of the Week for the first time with his performance at the Razorback Invitational … Also won the 400 meters indoors at the Tyson Invitational with a time of 46.28 … Posted an indoor personal best of 21.13 in his only 200-meter race of the indoor season at the Power Five Conference Clash in Birmingham, Alabama … Ran on winning relays at the Bayou Bengal Invitational (3:10.54), Power Five Conference Clash (3:05.77) and Razorback Invitational (3:04.46) during the indoor season … Capped the outdoor season by splitting a team-leading 44.20 on the second leg of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay team that defended its NCAA Outdoor title with a winning run of 3:00.69 in the final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held at Oregon’s Hayward Field … Teamed with Bruton, Grayson and Dunkley to run the fourth-fastest time in school history in the NCAA Outdoor final … Added the title of NCAA Outdoor Bronze Medalist in the 400-meter dash with a run of 45.11 in the national final … Advanced to the 400-meter final with times of 46.00 in the first round of qualifying and 45.22 in the national quarterfinals at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds and 45.27 in the semifinal round at the NCAA Outdoor Championships … Crowned an SEC Champion as a member of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay as he teamed with Bruton, Grayson and Dunkley once again to smash the SEC Outdoor Championships meet record with the third-fastest time in school history at 3:00.48 in the conference final … Picked up All-SEC honors as the SEC Outdoor Silver Medalist in the 400 meters with times of 45.63 in qualifying and 45.22 in the final at the conference meet … Member of the second-fastest relay team in school history that clocked 3:00.38 for a new Bernie Moore Track Stadium record at the LSU Alumni Gold … Each member of LSU’s mile relay team picked up SEC Men’s Runner of the Week honors after running one of the fastest times in collegiate history at the LSU Alumni Gold … Also ran a season-opening 45.17 for second place in the 400-meter dash at the LSU Alumni Gold … Member of other winning 4×400-meter relays at the Texas Relays (3:01.83), LSU Invitational (3:03.25) and NCAA East Preliminary Rounds (3:02.26) during the outdoor season … Twice ran outdoor seasonal bests of 21.15 in the 200-meter dash for fourth plcae at the Hurricane Twilight and fifth place at the Battle on the Bayou … Followed the collegiate season by lining up in the 400 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials where he placed ninth overall in the semifinal round with a lifetime personal best of 44.81 … Moved into the No. 5 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list with his best of 44.81 to highlight his junior season … Represented the United States at the North American, Central American & Caribbean Under-23 Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador, where he won the silver medal in the 400-meter dash before anchoring Team USA to the gold medal in the 4×400-meter relay in the meet finale.

PRIOR TO LSU
One of the NCAA’s elite 400-meter sprinters as a Florida State Seminole … An NCAA semifinalist in the 400 meters during both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2015 … Just missed earning a spot in the 400-meter final at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in his collegiate career as the ninth-place finisher nationally in the semifinal round … Clocked 46.02 for ninth place overall in the semifinals held at Oregon’s Hayward Field … Qualified 12th into the national semifinals after running 46.11 in the quarterfinals at the 2015 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds held at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville … Crowned the ACC Outdoor Champion in the 400-meter dash for the 2015 season after sprinting to a seasonal-best time of 45.43 at the conference meet held on Florida State’s Mike Long Track in Tallahassee … Qualified for the 2015 ACC Outdoor final with the fastest time of the preliminary round at 45.98 … Rode a wave of momentum into the ACC Championships during his sophomore season after winning a pair of 400-meter titles at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational (45.94) and Longhorn Invitational (46.46) to cap Florida State’s regular season … Also just missed earning a lane in the national final indoors in 2015 after clocking 46.49 for 10th place overall in the 400-meter semifinals at the NCAA Indoor Championships held at Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Track Center … Was the ACC Indoor Championships bronze medalist in the event with a 46.80 clocking at the conference meet … Earned his spot in the field at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships after running an indoor best of 46.31 to win the event at Notre Dame’s Alex Wilson Invitational during the regular season … Earned his first career All-America honor as the third leg of Florida State’s 4×400-meter relay that clocked 3 minutes, 8.18 seconds for seventh place in the national final at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2014 … Split 46.91 on the third leg of Florida State’s All-American relay team … Followed outdoors in 2014 by earning a spot in the national semifinals of the 400 meters for the first time in his collegiate career after clocking a lifetime PR of 45.37 as the fourth-fastest qualifier in the quarterfinal round at the NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville … Recorded back-to-back outdoor PRs at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds with times of 45.96 in the first round of qualifying and 45.37 in the quarterfinal round … Wrapped up the 2014 outdoor season ranked No. 3 in the World Junior Rankings at 400 meters with his lifetime best of 45.37 … Finished fifth overall in the final of the 400-meter dash at the 2014 ACC Outdoor Championships with a time of 46.99 … Clocked 46.11 in the qualifying round at the ACC Outdoor Championships during his freshman season … Ended his two-year stint at Florida State ranked No. 3 indoors (46.31) and No. 7 outdoors (45.37) on the Seminoles’ all-time Top 10 performance list in the men’s 400-meter dash … Followed his freshman season at Florida State by representing the United States on the international stage at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships held at Oregon’s Hayward Field … Crowned a World Junior Champion in the 4×400-meter relay after anchoring the United States to victory in 3:03.31 … Earned the USA Junior Championships bronze medal in the 400 meters in 2014 with a time 46.12 in the final … A product of Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he emerged as one of the nation’s top sprint recruits in the Class of 2013 … Set personal-best times of 10.79 in the 100 meters, 21.32 in the 200 meters and 46.02 in the 400 meters during his prep career … Eight times a state champion in Virginia in events ranging from the 200 meters to 500 meters … Set the national high school record in the indoor 300 meters in 2013 with a time of 33.05 en route to winning the state title in the event… Was a three-time New Balance Nationals Champion in his prep career, including his first career New Balance Outdoor title in 2012 before claiming a sweep of indoor and outdoor titles as a high school senior in 2013.

PERSONAL
Full name is Michael Lee Cherry … Born on March 23, 1995 … Mother is Tanya Blackwell … Has one older brother, William, and one older sister, Tantania … Was an honor roll student during his prep career at Oscar Smith High School … Majoring in pre-humanities and social science.