Hall of Fame
Sprinter Mike Garner became the fastest Tiger of all-time when he set the outdoor 100-meter dash record, a mark that, unless men’s track is ever reinstated, will never be broken again.
Mike was being recruited for his football prowess as a defensive back rather than his raw track speed. An ankle injury caused most of the schools interested in him to back off. But then Towson football coach Rob Ambrose persisted. “I told Coach Ambrose I wanted to run track too,” recalled Mike who won two sprint state titles while attending Governor Thomas Johnson High School. “He put me in touch with the track coach Roger Erricker who seemed pretty happy I’d be a member of the track team too.”
Football lasted one season with Mike. In the spring of his freshman year, he won the America East Conference 100-meter dash title, the only first place for the Tigers in that championship meet. He was also named the ECAC Division I Track Athlete of the Week three times, for his performances in The Spider Relays, The Millersville Metrics and The Delaware Invite. He was also the America East Conference runner up in the indoor 55- meter and outdoor 200-meter dash titles.
Hamstring injuries hindered Mike’s progress the following two years, but he credited Towson’s weight training program and sports medicine staff for getting him back on the track and ready for his senior year. It paid off. In 2004 he posted a 10.46 in the 100-meter dash to capture gold in the Colonial Athletic Association championships, eclipsing Towson’s program record of 10.59 set nine years earlier. He was also the CAA runner up in the 200-meter dash. His 10.46 100-meter time qualified him to run at the NCAA Inaugural East Regional Championships.
Prior to the CAA meet the University announced it was suspending four men’s sports including men’s indoor and outdoor track, catching a lot of athletes off guard, including Mike who also owned Towson’s indoor records in the 55m (6.39), 60m (6.89) and indoor 200m (21.53) dashes. He had a redshirt year left following the announcement. With his undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Towson under his arm he made his way to George Mason as a graduate student. He competed one year for the Patriots, winning the CAA 100-meter dash for a second straight year in a personal best time of 10.40 and won the 200 CAA meter dash. He followed up that win and won both IC4A 100m (10.51 seconds) and 200m dash (20.90 seconds) titles. His 200-meter time of 20.90 seconds landed Mike on the formerly known International Amateur Athletics Federations (IAAF) 2005 world’s best times list. Shortly afterwards Mike retired from running.
