Samoei, James Advance to Finals at NCAA Championships
6/9/2010 12:00:00 AM
June 9, 2010
EUGENE, Ore. - After day one of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at historic Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus on Wednesday, the Alabama men's track and field team is off to a good start with two student-athletes, junior Fred Samoei and freshman Kirani James, advancing to finals and earning a shot at the NCAA title.
With the second-best time at 800 meters in school history, Samoei became the first Alabama student-athlete to make it through to the finals. Samoei's career-best time of 1:45.94 was the third-fastest time in his heat as well as the third-fastest time of the semifinal. Friday's 800 meter final will feature, along with Samoei, 2008 Olympian Andrew Wheating of Oregon and 2010 NCAA indoor champion Robby Andrews of Virginia.
In the 400 meter semifinal, James returned to the oval to claim his heat with what appeared to be an easy 45.44-second lap. James once again beat out the No. 1 runner in the world, Calvin Smith of Florida, down the homestretch to automatically advance to the Friday final. James will line up in the final on Friday with the second-fastest time of the meet.
The 4x100 meter relay team of junior Brandon Spradley, James, senior Ray Jadusingh and senior Matt Watson finished 16th, after nearly missing the final handoff, with a time of 40.29.
Follow the new official Alabama track and field Twitter page for live updates of the weekend's action, AlabamaTrack.
Alabama will return to Hayward Field on Thursday for the 4x400 meter relay semifinal slated for a 6:45 p.m. (PT) start. It is the only event for the Tide on Thursday.
Wednesday's Alabama Men's Results
4x100 Meter Relay Semifinal: 16. Spradley, James, Jadusingh, Watson - 40.29
800 Meter Semifinal: 3. Fred Samoei - 1:45.94!+
400 Meter Semifinal: 2. Kirani James - 45.44+
Alabama Men Advancing to Finals
Fred Samoei - 800 Meters (June 11, 5:40 p.m. PT)
Kirani James - 400 Meters (June 11, 6:25 p.m. PT)
! - Personal-best; * - Season-best; + - Advanced to next round; DQ - Disqualified; DNF - Did not finish; NM - No mark; FS - False start; SR - School record
