James Runs Fastest 400m in the World This Season
2/5/2011 12:00:00 AM
Feb. 5, 2011
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Alabama men's track and field program wrapped up its action at the Meyo Invitational Saturday at the Loftus Sports Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
Saturday was highlighted by All-American Kirani James' 45.47 400m time, which is the fastest in the world thus far this year. James has already automatically qualified to run in the 200m and 400m at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
"We had some great performances over the last two days," UA head coach Harvey Glance said. "Kirani (James) had the performance of the meet setting a facility record and becoming the fastest man in world in the 400m this year. He did an outstanding job of doing what he does best and it's incredible that the fastest man in the world in both the 200m and 400m is on campus in Tuscaloosa."
Senior Fred Samoei finished second in the mile run with a time of 4:02.47. Teammates Emmanuel Bor, Joel Rop and Julius Bor all joined him in the top 10 of one of the top mile fields in the nation.
Freshman jumper Kamal Fuller had another strong showing this weekend posting a 24-8.50 mark in the long jump on Friday evening to finish third.
"Fuller did an outstanding job of competing in the long jump and in the mile we had four guys do well with two in the top-10 all-time at Alabama," Glance said.
The Alabama men's program will now split into two squads competing in both the Flotrack Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., and the Texas A&M Challenge in College Station, Texas, next weekend.
Alabama Results from Meyo Invitational
200m Unseeded
22. Bobby Onyeukwu. 22.82
400m Seeded
1. Kirani James, 45.47*
10. Dwayne Extol, 48.55
400m Unseeded
20. Joel Lynch, 49.97
Mile
2. Fred Samoei, 4:02.47
6. Emmanuel Bor, 4:03.74
9. Joel Rop, 4:05.48
10. Julius Bor, 4:06.33
3,000m
3. Carison Kemei, 8:10.5
5,000m
33. Austin Duckworth, 15:36.89
High Jump
9. Jonathan Reid, 6-9.50
13. Tyler Campbell, 6-7.50
Pole Vault
12. Michael Hughes, 16-0.75
Long Jump
3. Kamal Fuller, 24-8.50
6. Shaun Gaiser, 23-4.75
*Mark automatically qualifies for NCAA Indoor Championships
