Penn State's Cheickna Traore Wins NCAA 200-Meter Title

Traore capped a spectacular season by becoming the first Nittany Lion to win an NCAA outdoor sprint title since 1941.

Cheickna Traore of Penn State Celebrates his national championship in the men's 200 meters during the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. / Craig Strobeck-USA TODAY Sports

Cheickna Traore completed one of the greatest seasons in Penn State track history, winning the 200-meter title at the 2024 NCAA Track & Field Championships. Traore won Penn State's first NCAA individual outdoor title title since 2008 and the first 200-meter national championship in school history. Traore also became Penn State's first NCAA outdoor sprint champ since Barney Ewell won two events at the 1941 championships.

"What a perfect ending to the journey that [assistant] coach [Brandon] Rizzo and Cheick have been on this year," Penn State track & field coach John Gondak said in athletic department release. "NCAA Champion! I'm so proud of all Cheick did to represent Penn State this year, even though he isn't finished, as he will continue his journey and run at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer."

Traore won the 200-meter final in 19.95 seconds, punctuating a season in which he set multiple Penn State records. A graduate student from Linden, N.J., Traore ran a school-record time of 10.15 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries. He also ran a time of 19.93 in the 200 at the event, setting another Penn State record. With that time, Traore also achieved the Olympic standard. Traore will compete for Ivory Coast in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Traore was a Division III track star at Ramapo College before transferring to Penn State for his final season. He set Division III records in the indoor and outdoor 200 at Ramapo and won three national titles (two indoor, one outdoor) in 2023.

"Every single goal I've set, I've gotten to it," Traore said in a story published on the Penn State athletics website this spring. "Now I want to win a title, obviously, that's the goal. But after that, I want to make an Olympic final and once I do that in my career, I want to become an Olympic champion. It's things like that you have to work towards. And when I say something like becoming an Olympic champion, it sounds crazy, but that's what has to motivate you and if you don't have a reason to be going every day, then you're just doing a sport for nothing."

19.95 FOR THE NCAA 200-METER TITLE@traoxe, take a bow🐐#WeAre | #PSUTF | #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/tFNep6MgR4

— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) June 8, 2024

The NCAA Track & Field Championships are being held at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. Penn State sophomore Hayley Kitching will compete in the 800-meter final Saturday.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.