Redhawks' Smith gets spot on world list

Miles Smith's winning time Saturday in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Mideast Regional not only put him in elite company nationally.

It also placed the Southeast Missouri State sophomore in some pretty special company around the world.

Smith's school-record performance of 45.16 seconds ranks him 14th in the world this year. His time is the 19th-fastest on the list, with several of the ranked competitors appearing on the list multiple times.

"I'd say that qualifies Miles as world-class," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "It's really quite an honor for both Miles, our program and the university to be ranked among the world's elite runners."

Smith, Southeast's first Division I regional champion, is ranked fifth nationally in the 400 meters entering the NCAA Division I Championships, set for June 8 through 11 in Sacramento, Calif.

Florida State's Ricardo Chambers has the nation's top time (44.87 seconds), followed by LSU's Kelly Willie (44.97), Baylor's Darold Williamson (45.06) and Arizona State's Domenik Peterson (45.15).

Williamson anchored the United States' 1,600-meter relay team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, while Willie also received a gold medal as an alternate on that relay. Smith beat Willie to win the Mideast Regional in Bloomington, Ind.

While Smith automatically qualified for next week's national meet by winning the regional, Southeast earned two at-large selections.

Alonzo Nelson is ranked 18th nationally in the 400-meter hurdles with a top time of 50.77 seconds, while the 1,600-meter relay team of Nelson, Chris Poindexter, Chaz Brown and Smith is ranked 16th mationally with a top time of 3:06.49.

"It's the most people we've ever taken to the Division I national finals and it's very exciting for our program," Haines said.