From Southeast to Scandinavia

Southeast Missouri State's Miles Smith and Joey Haines have had a simple motto in recent weeks.

"Helsinki, here we come!"

Smith, Southeast's sensational 400-meter runner, and Haines, the Redhawks' longtime track and field coach, depart today for Finland, site of the 2005 World Track and Field Championships.

The world's most important track and field meet this year will take place Aug. 6 through 14. Smith is part of the United States' 1,600-meter relay team, while Haines will accompany him on his journey, serving as part mentor and part coach.

"As it gets closer and closer, I'm getting more and more excited," Smith said last week as he anticipated the trip. "I've never been out of the country before, so it's going to be a good experience for me, for track and just overall learning. I think I'll be able to do a few things over there besides the running."

Said Haines: "It's something Miles and I are both really looking forward to. It's just a great opportunity and a great experience for Miles, and it's also going to be a lot of fun for me. But we're going over there for business, because the main thing is that Miles run well, which I know he will."

Although Smith will be coached while at the meet by the USA staff, Haines will still be able to have a major impact on his athlete. The 1,600-meter relay will be contested Aug. 13 (preliminaries) and Aug. 14 (finals), and Haines will be able to work with Smith during the training leading up to the actual competition.

"I'll be able to continue handling Miles' coaching and training at the practice track. We'll really have an intense week of training," said Haines, who added with a laugh, "but once we're at the stadium, I'll have to buy my own ticket."

While it would not have been mandatory for Haines to join Smith in Finland, Smith said he would not have had it any other way regarding the person who has directed his remarkable rise to becoming one of the nation's premier 400-meter runners.

"He's my coach, my mentor and my friend," Smith said. "He advises me on a lot of things, not just in running. I definitely wanted him over there with me, and I'm glad he's going. I know it's going to help me."

The World Championships will be the continuation of a whirlwind year for Smith, who will be a Southeast junior in the fall.

Smith, unheralded coming out of Riverview Gardens High School in St. Louis, had a strong freshman season for the Redhawks, but he was a virtual unknown on the national scene entering his sophomore campaign.

Slowly but surely, that all changed. First, he surprised a lot of people by winning the 400 at the NCAA Mideast Regional in late May, beating out LSU's Kelly Willie, who won an 2004 Olympic gold medal as an alternate on the United States' 1,600 relay team.

Two weeks later, Smith again stunned plenty of folks by finishing fifth in the NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors.

By this time, Smith's personal best clocking of 45.16 seconds placed him among the world's top 20 runners and qualified him for the USA Championships in Carson, Calif., in late June.

At the USA Championships, which determine the field for the World Championships, Smith needed to finish in the top six in the 400 to have a chance at being selected for the 1,600 relay team. Again, Smith was a big underdog. But again he came through, finishing sixth.

After an anxious night of waiting, Smith was indeed tabbed for the USA team headed for Finland.

"Everybody who knows me knows I'm real confident," a grinning Smith said. "I had confidence I could do this all along, but it is happening a lot earlier than I thought. I thought maybe my junior year, not my sophomore year.

"But right now I feel like I can do anything."

While Haines said nothing is set in stone, he has been told Smith will run in the first round of the 1,600 relay on Aug. 13.

"Usually, the way it works is the guys who finish one-two at nationals [in the 400] don't run in the first round, only in the finals," Haines said. "The guys three through sixth [at nationals] run in the first round, then the decision on who runs in the finals is based on how they run in the first round.

"Miles was told he probably won't run in the finals, but if he were to run spectacular and somebody runs poorly, that can change."

The United States historically has dominated the 1,600 relay and will be heavily favored to win in Finland. If that happens, Smith would be awarded a gold medal whether he participates or not.

"I've thought about that, and it makes me happy," he said. "We'll have some pretty tough competition from Jamaica, but we should win."

The personable, easy-going Smith never seems to get too excited about what's happening around him, although he admits the magnitude of his accomplishments this year have started making a major impact.

"I guess it is finally sinking in now," he said. "It's been great, and my family has been really excited."

Still, Smith -- who Haines said never seems to be bothered by pressure -- doesn't believe he'll have a hard time handling whatever role he assumes at the World Championships.

"I'm going to try look at it as just another meet," he said. "It shouldn't be hard to do."

And regardless of what happens in Finland, Haines believes the experience of competing in the world's biggest meet of 2005 will aid Smith as he continues chasing his dreams of winning an NCAA title and earning a spot in the 2008 Olympics.

"This meet, and everything that has happened so far this year, is only going to help Miles reach his goals," Haines said. "It's really a neat thing to see, what's happening, because Miles is not only a great athlete but also a tremendous young man."