Smith blazes path to 400 final

The Redhawks' sophomore runner has all but clinched All-American honors.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Barring the unforeseen tonight, Southeast Missouri State sophomore Miles Smith will be able to call himself an All-American.

Smith all but clinched All-American honors Friday night, as he advanced to tonight's finals of the 400-meter dash at the NCAA track and field championships.

The top eight finishers in the eight-man finals will garner All-American status. Southeast's last Division I All-American in track and field was Terrence Branch, who finished fourth in the 400-meters at the 1994 national meet.

"As long as he doesn't oversleep or false-start or run out of his lane, he'll be an All-American," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "That would be a great honor. Miles is really coming through out here."

Smith, ranked 14th in the world this year, had the sixth-fastest time among 16 competitors during Friday night's semifinals, clocking 45.17 seconds. That is just off the school-record 45.16 seconds he ran to win the Mideast Regional on May 28.

Baylor senior Darold Williamson, who anchored the United States gold medal 1,600-meter relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, had Friday's fastest time, 44.27 seconds, which is also the world's fastest time this year. He won the eight-man heat in which Smith finished fourth.

Also qualifying for the finals were Mississippi State senior Jamel Ashley (44.98), Arkansas senior Terry Gatson (44.93), LSU junior Kelly Willie (45.12), Florida State freshman Ricardo Chambers (44.94), Texas Tech junior Andrae Williams (45.18) and Oregon senior Kedar Inico (45.22).

"Miles' semifinal heat, they announced it was the fastest semifinal heat in the history of the NCAA Championships," said Haines, noting that the three finishers ahead of Smith in the heat all timed under 45 seconds. "Miles ran great. He's doing super. The field is just so strong, it's amazing."

Smith said he is pleased to have virtually locked up All-American status, but he's not about to concede the NCAA title to some of his more heralded competitors, including Williamson and Willie, who earned a gold medal as an alternate on the United States Olympic champion 1,600 relay team in 2004.

"It's exciting, to be in the finals and to go up against some of the best runners in the world," Smith said. "But I've raced against a lot of them before, and I've beaten some of them [including Willie at the Mideast Regional]. I'm going to go for it. I think I can win."

* Poplar Bluff High School graduate P.J. Brown, who is a senior at Arkansas, tied for 10th in Friday night's pole vault finals with a height of 16 feet 10 3/4 inches. The winning height was 18 feet 1/2 inch.