Anchor Down: Tolbert Set 400H CR In 1997

There have been a few thousand national champions crowned over the near century-long span of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships and a few dozen have set a collegiate record en route to an individual event title. But, how many of those performances led to an invitation to meet with a sitting Vice President of the United States?

Vanderbilt’s Ryan Tolbert earned that experience of a lifetime in 1997. Running the 400-meter hurdles in a collegiate record 54.54 for the NCAA title, Tolbert captured the first national crown (individual or team) in the history of Vanderbilt University.

Head coach Paul Arceneaux remarked, “Ryan was charging the whole way. Usually she just runs fast enough to win, but today she left no doubt. With three hurdles to go, you knew she was going to win. It’s a great feeling to know that she is the first Vanderbilt athlete to win an NCAA Championship.”

It was such a special occasion that Tolbert garnered the attention of then-Vice President of the United States Al Gore. He and his wife, Tipper, were going to visit the Chancellor of Vanderbilt, Joe B. Wyatt, in the next few days  and asked if Tolbert could join them for dinner.

Originally from Clovis, New Mexico, Tolbert started her career as a heptathlete, but a fussy hamstring injury sidelined the all-around speciality. Her focus on the long-distance hurdles proved to be a good fit.

To wit: Tolbert also finished third in the 400 meters that year. To this date, she is only the third woman in meet history to win the 400H and earn a place in the non-hurdled one-lapper (Iowa State’s Nawal El Moutawakel was first in 1984; South Carolina’s Lashinda Demus followed in 2002).