Tacoma's Marcus Chambers signs with Nike & reunites with Eric Metcalf...

In a post on his social media accounts, Tacoma native Marcus Chambers (left/photo by Paul Merca) announced Thursday that he has signed a contract to run professionally for Nike.

Chambers, who graduated from the University of Oregon, finished sixth at last year’s NCAA championships in the 400, running a personal best of 44.92 in the semis, then running 45.28 in the finals.

He was second in the Pac-12 400 last year in a time of 45.19, and also finished second in the conference championship in the 200.  Chambers earned a #10 US ranking in the 400 last year from Track & Field News.

In 2016, he won his second Pac-12 400 meter title in Seattle and was fourth in the 400 at the NCAA championships in Eugene.  He advanced to the semis at the 2016 US Olympic Team Trials.

The Foss HS graduate has moved back from Eugene to the Puget Sound area, where he will be reunited with his former Seatown Express coach and NFL legend, Eric Metcalf, who is the sprints coach at the University of Washington.  Chambers ran for Metcalf's Seatown Express club while he was in high school.

Chambers will be represented by Lamont Dagen of Take Notice Sports agency.

Here’s Chambers’ announcement on his Instagram account:

Extremely blessed to announce that I have officially signed my first track and field professional contract with Nike. Hard work and dedication will get you to your dreams. Thank you to my new sponsor @Nike for letting me be apart of the team. Grind don't stop now got to keep getting better #Tacoma #Nike #NikeRunning #NikeRun #Track #Sprints #Track&Field #Athlete #Professional #Training #Sport #Run Video cred: @tommy.gunna @coast2coast.tv

A post shared by Marcus Chambers (@marcuschambers400) on Jan 4, 2018 at 5:15pm PST