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March 13, 2007

Salem State College's Eddie Bynum wins national track title

Mike Grenier

Salem State College speedster Eddie Bynum has specially designed running shoes with an inscription that says "Da Flash." That's his nickname.

Now he can expand it to something like this: Da Flash | Best in the dash.

No one would be able to argue with that statement, either, not after the 21-year-old Bynum won the 55-meter dash at the Division 3 National Indoor Track & Field Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., last weekend.

Bynum, a junior from Lynn, posted a 6.33 | the fastest time of the entire season among Division 3 athletes in the dash | and edged out Amaan Sideeq (6.34) in the process.

"It feels great, but I'm still in shock," Bynum said last night, two days after the race. "When I look at it now, I think, man, I actually won it."

Bynum finished eighth at the indoor nationals in Minnesota last year, qualifying him for All-America status. In his mind, that was just the appetizer. This year he wasn't going home without devouring the main course.

"Last year I think he was disappointed," said Salem State assistant coach Jeff Rockwood, who works with the team's sprinters. "He ran a 6.39 in the trials but then he had a technical error in the final and finished in 6.49.

"The biggest difference in Eddie since last year is his willingness to learn more about technique. He's had issues with a few different things, like the start, but he's gotten faster due to his training. He concentrated on his weaknesses and it paid off. When he gets up to top-end speed he's hands down the fastest guy in the country. He just blows away the competition when he's up to speed."

By Salem State standards, Bynum's victory was an historic accomplishment since no one from the school had ever finished first at the national indoor meet. Two-time All-America high jumper Tracey Reagan won the national outdoor championship in 1987, and Peabody's Julie Goodwin captured the long jump at the outdoor nationals in 1994.

Surrounded by other top-notch sprinters in Terre Haute, Bynum remained unflappable. He seems completely impervious to pressure.

"I think getting a taste of it last year helped Eddie," said Salem State head coach Dennis Floyd. "He realized that if he fixed a couple of things, he could finish first. He wanted to win that race and everything he did from that day forward was (geared) toward winning it this year. He was serious last year and was even more serious this year."

"I just gathered the experience (of competing at nationals last year) and put into effect everything I learned," said Bynum, "I didn't feel pressured at all. You just try to go out and do the same things you've done all season. I knew the competition out there would be good, but I felt if I could just run my race, the outcome could be good."

He did run his race. Sort of.

"My technique last year was sketchy. When it's iffy like that, you know you have to improve, so we worked on those things," said Bynum, who has pretty good size (5-foot-11, 165 pounds) to go with his blinding speed. "We concentrated on my starts and I was coming along with my reaction time (to the starting gun). You really have to focus on your technique in a race. If you don't, it'll go horribly for you."

The scary thing for Bynum's challengers in the next year is that everyone at Salem State figures he's going to get better. He still has to "clean up" some technical matters, according to Rockwood.

"Eddie is not even close to peaking," said Rockwood. "We saw some (flaws) in his start at nationals. He got away with murder because he still came on and won it. But this is a guy who isn't afraid of anybody. He goes into every race the same way. I get more nervous than he does."

Floyd says that Bynum is a classy competitor, pointing out that he's quick to shake hands with his rivals in the dash. If he gets upset with anything, it's his own mistakes. He believes he could do a 6.2 in the 55-meter dash if he gets it completely right.

"I was pleased with my time and the outcome, but when we got back (to the hotel) and reviewed the race, I was upset," said Bynum. "I messed up at the beginning but finished off the race. What'd I'd like to do now is improve and repeat."

Bynum now turns his attention to the outdoor season, where he hopes to qualify for nationals in the 100 and 200 meters.

"He has big goals," said Rockwood. "One of them is to go to the Olympic Trials in 2008."

If he keeps progressing, Bynum might need a new nickname at next year's nationals. Maybe something like "Catch Me If You Can." This year, nobody did.



Bynum blasts off

Salem State College junior Eddie Byner didn't lose to any Division 3 sprinter during the indoor season. Some of his notable first place finishes:

Division 3 national championship: 6.33

Northeastern Husky Invitational: 6.40

New England Championships at Bates College: 6.36

ECAC Championships at Wesleyan: 6.36

Alliance Championships at Tufts: 6.39

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