Smith earns trip to NCAA championships

Southeast Missouri State senior Miles Smith received the news he expected.

Smith earned an at-large bid to the NCAA national track and field championships in the 400 meters.

Smith enters the meet with the nation's 11th fastest time of 45.67 seconds, which he ran at the University of Arkansas on April 19.

The preliminaries begin June 11, with the semifinals June 13 and the finals June 14. The NCAA championships will be held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

"Miles is ready to compete," Southeast coach Joey Haines said in a release. "Miles had a good workout on Monday and we expect to have more good workouts before leaving for Des Moines next Monday. The injury has slowed his progress, but he is still one of the nation's top 400-meter runners."

Southeast senior John Berry is eligible to make the field in the long jump, but has not been selected yet. One more jumper is expected to be named to the field today.

"An NCAA official told me that Berry is most probably in the meet, but they have to be sure there are no mistakes in the current field," Haines said in the statement. "Berry is working out and we plan on him competing."