“Kori Monster” Crushed 400H CR In 2013

It was just a matter of time for Stanford’s Kori Carter in 2013. 

You could take it in the literal sense: Carter’s 53.21-second performance in the 400 meter hurdles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships shattered both the collegiate record and meet record in one fell swoop. In fact, Carter needed to squeeze every last millisecond out of her time because Pac-12 rival Georganne Moline of Arizona was right there with her as the duo became the first – and still only – women to both go sub-54 seconds in meet history (Moline was second in 53.72). 

“I knew I needed to run fast just to beat Georganne again,” said Carter, who edged Moline by 0.33 seconds for the Pac-12 crown just a few weeks earlier. “My coach told me I was going to run a 53, I didn’t think it would be that low of a 53.” 

And in order to run a low 53, Carter had to unleash her inner beast. She just didn’t know when it would make its appearance. 

“Coming off the turn, yeah (Carter said in response to feeling pressure from Moline), then I just went into my own little zone,” Carter said. “Kori Monster took over and she’s a little crazy.” 

Later in the meet, Carter earned runner-up honors in the 100 meter hurdles behind eventual The Bowerman winner Brianna Rollins, who set her own collegiate record of 12.39. And while Carter, a finalist for The Bowerman that year, would have preferred to have completed the hurdle double and joined Queen Harrison as the only two women in meet history to accomplish that feat, runner-up was OK, too. 

“One of the major things was believing that I could be a great 400 hurdler — not letting go of the 100 hurdles, but not being so stubborn about it,” Carter said. “I see now this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Accepting that was one of the biggest things.”