Wanda Woods has always been fast.
She started running at 9 years old in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago and consistently left her opponents in the dust. Her speed and dominance caught the attention of the people around her at primary school.
“My principal was like, ‘Hey, you can really run,’” Woods, 41, said. “So then I got involved in a club back home, and then I just started training.”
Her track career took her to the Central American and Caribbean Games, the PanAmerican Games and a college track career at Southern Union State Community College and Abilene Christian University, where she earned Division II All-American honors in 2010.
However, Woods has one accomplishment that stands out above the rest. She represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
She competed in the 400-meter relay in both Olympics. Neither run went to plan, with the team placing last in 2004 and 11th in 2008, but she said the experience is still one she carries with her.
“That means everything,” Woods said on representing her country at the Olympics. “That’s the highest level of sports, and to be there and represent your country, I think it’s awesome.”
She moved to Starkville because of her husband, Chris Woods, Mississippi State track and field head coach and former MSU runner. That’s where she met Crystal Burchfield.
Burchfield, 39, originally from Jamaica, came to the States to run track at a junior college in Texas. She caught the attention of the MSU coaching staff after earning NJCCA Outdoor All-American honors, and transferred to MSU to finish her collegiate track career, where she ran in 2009 and 2010.
With their track careers behind them, Woods and Burchfield have teamed up to spread the sport in the Golden Triangle.
Golden Triangle Extreme Speed
Burchfield noticed a lack of track-and-field presence in the Golden Triangle.
Schools in the area have teams, but she said there wasn’t any travel team or program showing kids the basics beyond running on a track. They both had kids competing in track and field at their school but were looking for a way to get them involved outside of school competition.
With the idea, and some encouragement from her husband, Woods said the Golden Triangle Extreme Speed was born.
This year is the team’s second season, with 25 youth runners participating, the youngest just 7 years old. Burchfield acts as the team’s head coach.
“We have improved in numbers (from last year),” Burchfield said. “We just think this is eye-opening for the community, with the young kids.”
Even in its infancy, the team has found success. This season, the Extreme Speed has competed in meets in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. Woods said the team has seen 12 members qualify for the AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, set to start at the end of July.
For both Woods and Burchfield, the goal in the coming years is growing the Extreme Speed. Woods said she wants to see the team’s participation number triple and send kids to compete in track and field at all levels of collegiate athletics.
“Southern Miss, it may be Mississippi State, it might be the one down in Meridian, it might be Hinds. You know just try to open their eyes that it’s not only baseball and you know football that could earn them that you know acceptance into school,” Woods said. “Track is also an option.”
Burchfield said she wants to see the team grow beyond Starkville, letting the wider community know that, ‘We’re here for y’all too.’”
“With these kids traveling outside of Mississippi, they realize that you know the wider world out there of track and field takes track and field very seriously,” Burchfield said. “And that’s what we’re trying to incorporate within the Golden Triangle.”
Burchfield wants the community to know that kids are welcome to come sit in and watch a practice to see if track and field would be a good fit for them. She wants the community to stop “just thinking about football and baseball.”
“Just give track and field a try,” Burchfield said.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
