Cambrea Sturgis (born March 27, 1999) is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in the sprints. She won two national titles in 2021, winning the 100 m and the 200 m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships as a sophomore.
Early life
Sturgis grew up in Kannapolis, North Carolina, where her first sport was basketball.[1] She began running track in middle school, following in the footsteps of her father, Darius.[1][2] Sturgis initially struggled, finishing last in races, but improved after joining an Amateur Athletic Union club called the Salisbury Speedsters.[1]
Sturgis graduated from A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis, North Carolina.[3] She was one of the fastest 100 m and 200 m sprinters in the state by her sophomore year,[1] earning MecKa 4A Conference female track athlete of the year accolades.[4] She was the Cabarrus County and 4A West Region champion in both events that year, placing top-three at the 4A state meet with respective times of 11.73 and 24.04 seconds.[5] Sturgis repeated as 4A West Region champion in the 200 m as a junior,[5] but did not compete as a senior.[6]
Sturgis was discovered as a sophomore by North Carolina A&T State University head coach Duane Ross, who said: "Mechanically, she has the tools. She is wired the correct way for a sprinter. I knew she had a future in this sport, and as soon as I could, I started recruiting her."[7] Sturgis also received offers from programs such as LSU, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota and Western Carolina.[2]
College career
Sturgis competed at the NCAA Division I level for the North Carolina A&T Aggies. As a freshman, she broke the 200 m school record with a winning time of 23.43 seconds at the 2019 Hokie Invitational.[7] Sturgis also finished third in the 200 m at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships with a personal best time of 22.40 seconds.[8] She was named a first-team All-American by the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).[5]
Sturgis won her first conference title as a sophomore, taking the 200 m crown at the 2020 MEAC Indoor Championships to contribute to the Aggies' fourth straight indoor team title.[9] She also ran a personal best time of 7.15 seconds in the 60 m to set a meet record at the Jim Green Invitational, earning national female athlete of the week honors by the USTFCCCA.[10] In the spring season, Sturgis won the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 m events at the 2021 MEAC Outdoor Championships, leading the Aggies to a conference title with 290 points.[11] She was again named national female athlete of the week by the USTFCCCA for her performance.[11]
Sturgis won the sprint double the following month at the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, winning the 100 m event in 10.74 seconds before placing first in the 200 m with a personal best time of 22.12 seconds.[2][12] The former became the fastest wind aided 100 m time in NCAA history while the latter was the fourth-fastest 200 m performance in NCAA history.[12][2] She also anchored the 4 × 100 m team to a third-place finish with a school-record time of 43.03 seconds.[2][12] Sturgis competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 m and 200 m events, but was eliminated in the semi-finals in both races. She was named the 2021 Southeast Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA.[12][13]
Professional career
On July 4, 2021, Sturgis announced that she would be foregoing her remaining college eligibility and pursuing a professional career with Adidas.[14]
On April 23, 2022, Sturgis ran a world-leading time of 10.87 seconds to win the 100 m event at the Aggie Classic, improving on Elaine Thompson-Herah's mark of 10.89 from the week before.[15]
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