X-Man Reigned At 2006 NCAA Meet

The X-Men are fictional superheroes.

The X-Man, however, is very, very real.

Back in 2006, Xavier Carter authored comic-book-like performances at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, California, when he became the first man since Jesse Owens to win four national titles at the same outdoor meet and completed the only 100-400 double in meet history in the process.

“It probably won’t really hit me for a few weeks,” Carter told Track & Field News of his cornucopia of crowns. “But, as I think about it, Owens is a legend, so I feel honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as him.”

Busy doesn’t even begin to describe Carter 14 years ago.

For Carter to even score in each of the four events he contested – 100, 400, 4×100, 4×400 – he would have to compete nine times across a four-day span, beginning on Wednesday with heats of the 400 and 4×100, then concluding on Saturday with finals of the 100, 400 and 4×400.

Carter kicked off his four-title quest on Friday as part of LSU’s 4×100 relay team. He took the baton second from Richard Thompson, blew past the rest of the competitors on the backstretch and gave Marvin Stevenson and Kelly Willie leads they would never relinquish. The Tigers won in 38.44 and by 0.42 seconds, the fastest winning time in six years and the largest margin of victory since Houston won by 0.50 seconds in 1982.

Defending champion Walter Dix of Florida State stood in Carter’s way in the 100, but nothing would faze the burgeoning star this weekend. Carter started a bit slow, caught up to Dix and Demi Omole of Wisconsin with about 15 meters left and powered through the finish line. It was a 10.09 PR for Carter and a 0.09-second victory over Dix, who’d win again in 2007.

Less than 30 minutes later, Carter was back on the track for the 400. It might have looked as if fatigue began to settle in as Carter sat near last in the first 100 meters of the race, yet the LSU standout only got stronger as the race progressed. He blistered a 10.3 split between 100 and 200 and closed the final 200 meters in 22.9 to post a 44.53 PR and a 0.18-second victory.

All that was left for Carter was the 4×400, an event in which the Tigers set a 2:59.59 CR the previous year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with him on the anchor leg (Carter split 44.0). This race wasn’t nearly as fast (3:01.58) – but that wasn’t an issue. Carter toted the baton around in 45.5 and crossed the finish line first, completing his impressive haul of NCAA titles.

While an Olympic or World Championships medal never came his way, Carter sure left his mark on the world all-time chart. Carter went 19.63 over 200 meters in 2006 for what was the second fastest mark in world history at the time behind Michael Johnson’s 19.32 WR (That race featured some future heavy hitters on the world stage: Tyson Gay finished runner-up in 19.70 PB; Usain Bolt finished third in 19.88 PB).