Nelson, 1,600 relay fall short

Southeast Missourian

Alonzo Nelson was exactly 1 second off his season-best time in the 400-meter hurdles Thursday night.

At the NCAA track and field championships in Sacramento, Calif., that margin can make a big difference.

Nelson, a Southeast Missouri State junior, completed his first-round heat of the 400 hurdles Thursday in 51.77 seconds and failed to qualify for today's semifinal round.

Southeast's 1,600-meter relay team, which includes Nelson, Miles Smith, Chris Poindexter and Chaz Brown, failed to make the top eight and qualify for Saturday's final. The relay team finished 17th among 18 entries in a time of 3:07.94.

The top time was Texas Tech's 3:01.69.

Smith will compete this evening in the 400-meter dash semifinal round. Smith posted the fourth-best time during Wednesday's first round with a time of 45.79 seconds. The top eight runners from the two eight-man heats will advance to Saturday's final.

Nelson's season-best time of 50.77, which ranked 18th nationally, would have been enough to place among the top 16 and move on to the next round.

But he ended up 22nd among the 27 competitors. The final qualifying spot was 51.32 seconds.

Nelson was fourth in his six-man heat, which was won by LaRon Bennett of Georgia in 50.60 seconds.

The fastest time of the day belonged to Florida sophomore Kerron Clement, who posted a 49.13. Clement earlier this year outran Smith in a heat at the NCAA indoor meet and later in that meet set the world's indoor 400 record at 44.57 seconds.