Will Victoria Cameron Become The NCAA's Newest Track And Field Star At Nationals?

Forbes

a day ago

Victoria Cameron (center) was second in the women's 100 meters at the NCAA West First Round in ... More College Station, finishing in 11.01 seconds.
Victoria Cameron wasn't supposed to be here.
At least, that wasn't the plan initially, with the Tarleton State University sophomore hardly envisioning a future at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships coming out of Stephenville High School.
Didn't matter that Cameron came up just seven-hundredths of a second short of Sha'Carri Richardson's Class 4A 100 meter record at the UIL State Outdoor Championships in May of 2023. Nor did it matter that anyone with eyes could see she had an innate ability to run fast.
Cameron had already committed to play soccer at Tarleton State, just a couple miles down the road from where she grew up.
And two years ago, she was committed to it.
But then, maybe a month before her college start – or maybe as she put her hands on the fence overlooking the pasture at home where her family's favorite cow grazed – things flipped.
'I realized I couldn't really leave track,' said Cameron, who lives about four miles from her college campus, in a town of just over 20,000. 'Like, there was this attachment to it.'
What a decision that turned out to be.
As Tarleton State made its full-fledged transition to the NCAA Division I in July of 2024, Cameron exploded as a track athlete in 2025, reaching indoor nationals in March before another national qualification came in May.
'(I) just want to put my hometown college on the map,' she said.
Cameron enters the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon with the eighth-fastest wind-legal time in college at 11.01 seconds, securing that effort at the NCAA Division I West First Round in College Station.
Still, there's a star quality that seems to encircle her.
Take a moment from regionals, for instance. Cameron was recognized inside a restaurant …in College Station, Texas.
'It just makes me happy to have seen that,' she said. 'Like, if my name's out there, my college's name is out there.'
That being said, Cameron currently splits her time between two sports.
This fall, she logged 230 minutes in 18 games with the Tarleton State's women's soccer team, scoring a goal and generally cutting her teeth in the collegiate game. A few years ago, University of Kentucky track and field legend Abby Steiner did the same.
On the track, however, Cameron is an exceptional sprinter.
From her first outing at 100 meters at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in March to her most recent performance at the Regional Championships – a timeline spanning six meets – Cameron only got better with time, clocking progressive performances of 11.33, 11.25, 11.05 and 11.01 over her last four meets.
In the same venue where she won a state-championship winning 100 meter time of 11.35 seconds in 2023, Cameron ripped off a wind-assisted 11.09 inside Mike Myers Stadium. A few weeks later, in Denton, Texas, she ran a wind-legal 11.22.
'I love seeing my times go down over time,' she said. 'Nothing feels better than having a PR so, I don't know, my love for the sport just kind of helps put everything in place.'
In May, Cameron was named the WAC Conference's women's track athlete of the year. This weekend will mark the first time over the outdoor season she will race outside Texas.
The bigger question lies in wake: Will she be able to break 11 seconds?
Cameron is on the cusp of a barrier that few women in college history have ever reached. Her career best 11.01 is 71st in U.S. history and she's just outside the NCAA's top 25 all-time performances.
'As soon as I got to the line, I had an overwhelming feeling of just being able to lock in,' Cameron said of her race. 'And then when I came out of the blocks, I kind of knew I was behind, but the biggest key to that race was just having patience throughout it all.'
That being said, the college sophomore isn't perfect. In the prelims at indoor nationals in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a poor start hindered her first 20 meters and she suffered at the line, running 7.38 seconds–a little over two-tenths off of her career-best 7.16.
Cameron said her focus this spring has been about fixing those issues. She's been working on block starts and her reaction time.
While the first variable is physical, the second is in some ways mental.
'My reaction time over the season has proven to be a hit or miss – either I'm last out of the blocks, or I'm right up with everyone,' she said. 'So I could definitely improve.'
Tarleton State sophomore Victoria Cameron qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the ... More women's 100 meters at the NCAA West First Round in May.
It would be unfair to say that Cameron is the favorite heading into nationals.
Four women enter NCAAs with season bests under 11 seconds – TCU's Indya Mayberry, LSU's Tima Godbless, Ohio State's Leah Bertrand and Florida State's Shenese Walker – while Cameron would have to secure two nearly perfect races across two rounds to claim victory.
But there's no doubt she's chasing the moment.
On Thursday, she'll bring the Tarleton logo to Tracktown, a revered site for track and field greatness.
'As my coach would say, 'I don't want it to be a 'Tarleton-Question-Mark,' I want it to be a 'Tarleton-Exclamation-Point,'' Cameron said. 'That's the goal here.'
Leaving her indoor performance behind her, Cameron insists anything can happen this weekend in Eugene. The first objective is reaching the final. The second will be to give herself a shot to win it.
'I believe really anything is possible within track and field due to the fact that it's not a very forgiving sport,' she said. Indoors, the girl with the fastest time ended up false starting, so anything can happen. So you just gotta give it your all and believe that you're going to win it before you run it.
Nationals begins on Wednesday starting at 1:30 p.m. at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. You can follow live results here. Men's and women's competition will alternate days, with the men's first round action beginning on June 11, the women's first round following on June 12 and then men's and women's finals taking place on June 13 and June 14. The women's 100 meter first round will kick off at 5:15 p.m. PST on June 12. In the men's competition, Minnesota is looking to win its first national team title since 1948.