Harris, Maiyo Advance on Day One of the NCAA Championships
6/8/2006 12:00:00 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif.??Chauncey Harris won his section of the 200m and Augustus Maiyo placed fifth in his section of the 3,000m steeplechase to advance to the next round of their events as the Alabama men’s track and field team opened competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif. on Wednesday.
“These young men have led they way for us all season,” Alabama head coach Harvey Glance said. “I’m extremely proud of them. We are not looking to just come here to be here. We want to come in here and make a difference.”
Harris clocked a time of 20.94 in his section of the 200m to win the race. His time ranked tenth overall in the first round. The Hueytown native moves into the semifinal round on Friday afternoon.
“I’m really pleased with Chauncey,” Alabama head coach Harvey Glance said. “His execution was in place in lane nine. It will be a tough semifinal on Friday, but he ran extremely well and I am proud of him. I know one thing for sure and that is that he is one of the top 16 sprinters in the country in the 200m.”
Maiyo closed out the day by placing fifth in his section of the steeplechase with a time of 8:41.24. The SEC champion set the pace and led the majority of the race before being passed on the bell lap. Maiyo will now compete in the final of the event on Saturday afternoon.
“Maiyo did what he had to do to get to the final of the steeplechase,” Glance said. “He’s one of the 14 best in the country and I am proud of him.”
Also for Alabama on Wednesday, the 4x100m relay squad of Chauncey Harris, Byron Gibson, Marcus Siwemuke and Michael Cooley struggled, clocking a time of 41.03 to finish fifth in their heat as Cooley was still hobbled from the leg injury he suffered two weeks ago at the Mideast Regional.
“We knew the relay would be risky with Cooley still nursing a leg injury,” Glance said. “We didn’t execute the way were supposed to.”
Alabama returns to action Thursday afternoon as Harris will run in the first two rounds of the 100m dash. Abraham Kutingala will run in the 10,000m run on Thursday night.
“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I know who we have competing tomorrow,” Glance said. “It’s a great feeling to get the kind of representation here that we have gotten. I’m proud of my guys.”
