The Gateway to Sacramento:
Mideast Regional is Rolling on the Relays

This feature is the second of a seven-part series highlighting the athletes, coaches, and teams that will attend the NCAA Mideast Track & Field Regional Championships on May 25 and 26, held at Audrey J. Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo.

The relay groups are being featured this week because of the World-famous Drake and Penn Relays occurring this weekend. The results that come from this weekend will give a better idea of how head-to-head relay battles will match-up in the post-season.

By Mike Wojtychiw
Missouri Media Relations Student Assistant

"Coach Tressel keeps joking that he has the fastest 4-by-100 team in the country, and I told him it would be nice to see him prove it," Ohio State University's Men's Track Coach Robert Gary told The Columbus Dispatch.

In the past few days, news from Columbus is that Head Football Coach Jim Tressel is allowing four of his football players to run as part of the 400-meter relay team for the rest of the outdoor track season. Coach Tressel has given Coach Gary a pool of eight football players, flanker Brian Robiskie, tailback Maurice Wells, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, receivers Dan Potokar, Ray Small, and Albert Dukes, and defensive backs Chimidi Chekwa and Donald Washington, from which the football coaching staff will select the runners based on the players' health, academic responsibilities and willingness. In preparation for the Mideast Regional, in which Ohio State is seated, the relay team will either debut this weekend at the Drake Relays or next weekend at the Jesse Owens Invitational.

Year in and year out, The Penn and Drake Relays, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and Drake University, respectively, are two of the biggest, and arguably most-respected, outdoor collegiate track and field meets in the nation. This year will not be any exception as the teams from the Mideast Regional will be very well represented in each meet, as 30 of the 74 teams in the region will be at the Drake Relays and 18 at the Penn Relays, making this the perfect time to talk some relays.

According to the latest NCAA-descending order lists, six of the current top-20 4x100 teams are in the loaded Mideast Regional, led by Auburn and LSU, the second and fourth ranked teams, respectively. On the women's side, four of the top 20 teams in the nation, led by second ranked LSU, lead the 2007 regional field in the event. In what seems to be a yearly trend, the SEC boasts seven of the top ranked teams in the regional. The University of Tennessee Women's Coach J.J. Clark says that "It does feel like a replay of the SEC Championships, especially at nationals, because everyone is back together there. For Regionals, they split us up, but at nationals, we are going back to competing against one another again, and I see it as advantageous, because you've gone against these people in conference, sometimes multiple times already."

Although it's not an event that is competed at regionals or nationals, the SEC and the Big 12 have five of the top eight projected men's 4x800-meter relay teams according to Trackwire.

AT THE DRAKE RELAYS: The biggest news from the Drake Relays, as explained above is the potential debut of the Ohio State all-football player relay team. These athletes, who will be participating in the 4x100 relay both at Drake and, possibly pending a qualifying time, at the Mideast Regional on May 25-26, will not be the only world class athletes in the field.

Two runners from the University of South Alabama have set world-record times in some of the events that they have participated. South Alabama, which will be making it's first appearance at the Drake Relays, boasts Vincent Rono, from Bomet, Kenya; Ajoke Odumosu, from Lagos, Nigeria; and Clarisse Moh, from Paris, France. Rono, who won the 1500-meter run at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, recorded the third-fastest outdoor mile in the world this spring on April 15, clocking 3:59.36. Odumosu, recorded the world's fastest 400-meter time of the year, when she ran a 50.46, ironically also on the same date. According to Trackwire, she is also ranked as the No. 1 athlete in her premiere event, the 400-meter hurdles. Lastly, Moh ran the fastest time in the world by a French athlete, when she recorded a 52.58 in the 400 at that same race.

Like Penn, the Drake Relays will feature two of the top men's 4x400-meter relay teams, when the Baylor Bears and Indiana Hoosiers take to the track. Both teams return three runners from last year's top five finishers. In the men's 4x100, the Ohio State team will most likely receive their biggest challenge if both they and UTEP make the finals, with UTEP taking third at nationals last year in the event.

AT THE PENN RELAYS: The Penn Relays are going to be host to some of today's most exciting collegiate track and field athletes, including some Mideast Regional teams such as Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, and Arkansas, amongst others. Nine NCAA individual and team champions will be showcased at this year's relays. The Louisiana State men's 4x100- and 4x400-relay teams will be in attendance, but will be without record holder Xavier Carter - the "X"man -

who tied Jesse Owens at last year's national championships with national titles in the 100 and 400 meter dash, as well as both relays. Instead of returning to LSU to defend his national championships, he decided to forgo his last two years and turn pro. Last year's Relays Champion, LSU, will be a challenger to favorite Florida State, which this year has run 39.24 as their fastest 4x100 time. With LSU's loss of Carter, the Seminoles are expected to be favorites in all of the relays, thanks in part to their own superstar, Walter Dix. Dix, a junior, who won the 200 at last year's National Championships and finished second in the 100, losing to Carter by nine-hundredths of a second. Tennessee, which returns two of its 4x100 members from its NCAA runner up team, will also challenge Florida State. Even with the loss of the "X" man, LSU and Tennessee have to be considered the favorites in the 4x100 relay at this year's Regional meet.

The women's side features two teams in the region which finished in the top five at last year's National Championships, runner up LSU and fifth place Auburn. Both will have teams to watch in not only the 4x100-relay at the Penn Relays, but the Mideast Regional and National Championships as well. LSU brings back all four from last year's relay, each adding one more year of experience.

One could say that this proves that the Mideast Region is not lacking in supply of talent, with so many good storylines coming along. If excitement turns into reality, who knows, maybe we'll have one of the most entertaining Mideast Regionals to date.