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Merritt dusts world champ in Arkansas meet

From wire and staff reports

For the second time in a week, East Carolina's La Shawn Merritt ran the fastest 400 meters in the world this year, this time beating the reigning world champion at that distance in the process.

Merritt, a freshman from Portsmouth, VA, won the 400 in 44.93 seconds at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, AR, on Friday night. His time was more than a second quicker than the 45.94 he ran a week earlier that had been 2005's best.

Bershawn Jackson, the 2003 U.S. indoor champion, was second. Reigning world indoor champion Alleyne Francique was fourth.

"It was a pretty tough field, a lot of Olympians," said the 18-year-old Merritt. "I was the only guy from college, but I wasn't going to back down from them.

"I had never run on this track before, so I didn't know what to expect. I knew coming in that I could run 45 (seconds), and I knew this was the fastest track in the country. When I came in (the final turn), I knew no one was around, and I just wanted to finish strong."

East Carolina coach Bill Carson said he and Merritt worked out on the University of Arkansas track to figure out where the freshman would run best, and then Merritt followed the plan perfectly.

Carson, known for producing and mentoring world-class sprinters, has been the Pirates' track coach for 37 years.

Merritt, regarded as one of the world's top young sprinters, won three gold medals at World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy, last fall. In that meet, he won the men's 400m and was on the winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams, which broke junior records in both of those relays.

When Merritt signed with East Carolina last spring, Carson stated: "He is possibly the greatest track athlete to ever enter this university."

02/23/07 01:11 PM

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