By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
Theo Chambers had limited experience in high school track, so when he asked to walk on at William & Mary as a sophomore in 2017, there wasn't clear place to put him. He ended up in the multi events, but hamstring issues nearly led him to quit.

A year later, Omar Brown came on as the Tribe's sprints coach. And Chambers, Brown quickly concluded, needed to be a sprinter.

Smart decision. Last weekend, Chambers became the Tribe's first male athlete to win a sprint event at the CAA Track & Field Championships — and he did so by taking first in the 200 and 400 meters. He set a school record in the 400m at 47.44 seconds, which broke a mark that had stood since 1983.

If not for Brown, who had been coaching at his Modern Sprints Track Club in Florida, it might never have happened.

"He's a huge reason why I stayed," said Chambers, now a fifth-year senior. "He's completely changed the culture since the moment he arrived."

Felecia Hayes, another senior, provides another testimonial. In her first season, she worked with three different sprint coaches. Then came Brown, who quickly provided stability and a different outlook.
Last weekend, Hayes set a school record in the 100 meters and earned All-CAA honors with a second-place finish in the 200m. W&M's sprinters and hurdlers on the women's team combined for three school records and 56 points, 20 coming with a 1-3-5 finish in the 400-meter dash. 

"Things started coming together when Coach Brown came here," Hayes said. "He's equipped us with so many tools, information, workouts, and how to train our minds to be pushed to the next level. He's brought a different type of mindset to our team and our sprint squad."

That was why Brown, a former Jamaican sprinter who is married to eight-time Olympic medalist Veronica Campbell Brown, was hired.

"When I came here, the distance program was doing very, very well," said Brown, who ran collegiately at Arkansas. "But we also wanted to develop a holistic program with the sprinters doing well, the throwers doing well, and the distant runners doing well.

"We wanted to develop the kids already in the program to maximize their potential.  And we wanted to recruit student athletes who are passionate about sprinting and want to be a part of the team and do well in the classroom."

Alex Heacock, W&M's director of track & field, believes it's a perfect example of the trust between athlete and coach.

"He brings consistency every day with his demeanor and expectations for our men and women," Heacock said. "And they've certainly responded to him."

Also taking gold for the Tribe last weekend was freshman Mary Gregory in the 400m with a freshman-record time of 55.40. Both women's relay teams set school records with the 4x400m group finishing first. Both men's teams came in second and broke a 53-year old school record in the 4x100m.

"It's really crazy how much everyone has improved on our team," Chambers said. "I never thought it would have happened when I came here."

To see how far the sprinters have come during Brown's three seasons, look no further than William & Mary's the record book. Most of the fastest performances, both for the women and men, have come in the past three seasons.

In the women's outdoor 100 meters, the top four times and six of the top seven were set this season. In the indoor 200m, the top 11 performances are all since 2019.

In the outdoor men's 400m, six of the top nine times have come in the last three seasons. In the indoors 400, the top five times have come since '19.

Individually, few have come further in four seasons than Hayes. Her PR in the 200 meters improved from 26.73 as a freshman to 24.26, the second-fastest in school history, as a senior.

"I became more successful when Coach Brown came," she said. "He's affected my athletic career in a positive way."

With so much recent success among the sprinters, the Tribe hopes to attract the type of athletes it has not been able to land before.

"Looking forward," Brown said, "I hope this really inspires a lot of high school kids to know that William & Mary is a place where they can excel athletically as well as academically."

Heacock believes Brown will make that happen.

"He's been able to recruit incredibly well, and we're seeing results because of it — especially in the conference championship last weekend," he said. "I think we're going to see some brighter days with sprinters, hurdlers, and relays as we continue moving forward."