All Eyes on Cambrea

COVID-19 may have changed the world but one thing is still the same. North Carolina A&T still has some heavy hitters. Perhaps the heaviest of all is dominant sprinter, Cambrea Sturgis.

For the second straight year she ruled the 60-meter dash during a meet at the University of Kentucky. This year she ran a prelim time of 7.36 before winning the finals at 7.29. The closest time in either round amongst the 17 other competitors was ran by Sturgis' teammate Symone Darius who clocked in at 7.42.

After the victory the All-American junior took a moment to talk about what it is like to be a part of a program, which was once seen as small but has become a national powerhouse. We also have a little fun with a conspiracy theory about a race that she ran during her freshman year.

Without anymore delay, enjoy this interview with a confident athlete who may someday be known as the fastest woman on the planet.

Winners Only: North Carolina A&T is such of an incredible program with what you all have been able to do. What is the recipe behind all of the greatness?

Cambrea Sturgis: The recipe is hard work and dedication. What you do at practice is what you're going to do at a competition. I treat every practice as a meet so when competition comes it’s a walk in the park.

So many of you at North Carolina A&T have become All-Americans which is not the norm for most HBCUs. What was it that made you all choose NCAT over the programs in bigger conferences like the SEC, PAC-12, Big-12 and others?

For me it’s not so much about how big and competitive the conferences are, it’s how the coach can tell me what they are going to do to get me to the next level. For A&T the coaches were talking about making me into an All-American and a known face and that’s what they did.

You came in when Kayla White was riding high and winning national titles while at NCAT. Now it is your turn to be the face of the program. Did you learn anything from her experience and how does it feel being the top woman now?

Kayla has taught me to be patient and own the race. She taught me to be aggressive and have the other runners talk about me because I am the best. Being the top women now means I’m doing something right and that I’m on a great path to becoming a great athlete.

Last season ended abruptly and in heartbreak. I thought you were going to be the national champ in the 60 and 100 meters for sure. How did you deal with not being able to compete for a national championship in 2020?

It was hard because my coach and I prepared for that meet specifically. But he told me that it only gives us more time to prepare for the Olympic games, then that was cancelled, so he told me the only thing we could do is train and be ready when the time comes.

How good did it feel to run today? Was the lack of an audience a factor in your performance in any way?

It felt good to run today. I’m proud of myself after almost a year of not running. The lack of audience didn’t play a factor in my performances audience or no audience I was still going out there to do what needs to be done.

I was told a few years back by an athlete from a big time sports program that they used to look past NCAT but by the time she was done with college big programs learned that NCAT was a serious threat. After years of excellence, do you all feel respected amongst your peers or is there still a feeling that you all are seen as guest on the big stage?

No we feel respected, especially since a lot of programs doubted us in the past and seen us as the underdog. When we hit that stage we are ready to run, we don’t care who likes us or not.

You are entering the backend of your college career. What are your main goals while at NCAT?

My main goal is by the end of my senior year or before I want to be signed professionally. From here on out I just got to keep working and striving to make it to the next level.

What about those national titles?

I’m taking each meet, meet by meet to prepare my self for a national title. I’m speaking it into existence I will become the national indoor champ in the 60 meters and 200 meters.

Heck yeah you will. What's the most gratifying result of your career so far and is there a specific runner or two out there that brings the best out of you?

My most gratifying result was nationals my freshman year when I broke the school record in the 200. Even though it was my first year I felt like I accomplished a lot and learned a lot through out my freshman year. Specific runners I wouldn’t say any, because each year there is always someone new stepping up to the plate to be the best.

Here is something that I've been thinking about since it happened. Remember your prelim performance in the 100 meters during the 2019 MEAC Championship meet?

Yes .

Ok I remember you ran in your heat and your teammates were going crazy. Tthe crowd was amazed and then the time came out at 11.19 which is great but I thought it was way faster. I even created my own conspiracy theory that it was less than 11 seconds. I played the video a bunch of times and you can't convince me that the reported time was wasn't wrong. What really happened? Am I imagining things?

No you weren’t imagining things. I ran an amazing race and even my coach was like that time is wrong but we think it was the fact that it was an A&T athlete that ran that fast and they didn’t like that. Everyone is always after us and wants us to lose and say that they beat A&T so it was just jealousy .

Ok so for fun, why didn't they manipulate Kayla's finish the next day? She became the first HBCU sprinter to run the 100 under 11 seconds. You would have been the first because it happened the day before? Was it a different person in charge of the timing system the next day or did they not want to appear to be too obvious in the sabotage?

The world may never know. Kayla is an amazing athlete just like me and I just don’t know .

I'm on the case. Ok as we wrap up I imagine that you have dreams of participating in the Olympic games whenever they may take place. What will it take to get there and am I right to predict that you will win a gold medal in the 200 meters?

Constantly running good and putting up good times. Just like I said earlier hard work and dedication. I have to work for it as much as I dream of it .

Will my prediction be correct?

Yea of course .

Yup of course. Thanks for taking time out to do this and congrats on your win today.

Thank you. It was a pleasure.