Smith finishes last in 400 final

With a berth in the NCAA outdoor track and field meet virtually locked up, Southeast Missouri State's Miles Smith decided not to take any chances.

Smith coasted through Saturday night's 400 meter finals at the Mideast Regional in Fayetteville, Ark.

Southeast coach Joey Haines said Smith's last-place time of 48.53 seconds was a bit embarrassing to the proud senior, but Haines emphasized that Smith's move was the right one.

"Miles did the smart thing," Haines said.

Smith, competing Friday for the first time in nearly a month due to a hamstring injury, had the fastest preliminary time among the 24 regional qualifiers, clocking 45.85 seconds.

The top five finishers in each regional event automatically qualify for the national meet, with the next seven qualifying for possible at-large selections based on seasonal best times or distances.

Smith, a four-time All-American in the 400, was injured May 3 during the Ohio Valley Conference meet. His season-best time of 45.67 seconds ranked 13th nationally entering the weekend, meaning he was a lock to make the national meet as an at-large as long as he finished among the top 12 at the regional.

So Smith nailed down a national berth by advancing to Saturday's eight-man finals. The only stipulation was that he had to finish the race.

"All he had to do was finish to get an invitation to nationals," Haines said. "I left it up to him. The smart thing to do was to do what he did.

"It took a lot of courage because it was embarrassing to finish way back in a race he could have won. But he was sore this morning. He could have done it, but he could have got hurt again. So he just took a jog around the track."

Now Smith — who earned a gold medal at the 2005 World Championships as a member of the U.S. 1,600 relay team — has nearly two weeks before the national meet June 11 through 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.

After that, Smith will gear up for the U.S. Olympic Trials June 27 through July 6 in Eugene, Ore.

"What's killing us now is the lack of practice," Haines said. "What we've got to do is get our workouts in to get better.

"He's going to finish in the top five at the NCAAs and make All-American, but that's not our goal. Our goal is to make the Olympic team."

Smith was among seven Southeast athletes competing at the Mideast Regional, including three others Saturday.

Freshman Samantha Espiricueta finished seventh in the women's javelin with a career-best 151 feet, 6 inches, but that distance won't be good enough for her to receive an at-large national berth.

"She did great," Haines said. "She was in fifth place through five rounds and two girls beat her on their last throws. That moved her from fifth to seventh.

"But it was a great effort and she's only going to get better."

Senior Lindsey Hearne, who has been battling an injury, was 13th among 14 competitors in the women's javelin with a distance of 129-11.

Junior Bilal Hameed finished 20th among 31 competitors in the men's triple jump with a distance of 48-8.

Among the Southeast athletes who competed Friday, senior long jumper John Berry had the top performance. He finished seventh with a distance of 25 feet, 1 1/4 inches.

By placing in the top 12, Berry still has a shot at an at-large berth to the national meet based on his season-best 25-5 1/2 that ranks 24th nationally.

Also Friday, Scott City High School graduate Loren Groves won the hammer throw at the Midwest Regional in Lincoln, Neb. The victory qualified her for outdoor nationals for the first time.

Groves, a junior at Kansas State, placed ninth in the discus, but she still should be in good shape for an at-large berth to the national meet.

Groves is a two-time indoor All-American in the weight throw, having placed sixth in the past two indoor national meets.