Boyd Wins World Junior Championships
7/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
July 10, 2008
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland - Freshman Marcus Boyd clocked a time of 45.53 in the finals of the 400 meters to claim the World Junior title at the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships on Thursday afternoon.
Boyd, whose previous personal best time of 46.02 came at altitude at the 2008 Big 12 Championships in Boulder, Colo., ran his first career sub-46 second 400 meters to set the World Junior leading time. The previous world junior leader was O'Neal Wilder of Mississippi State who clocked 45.54 at the 2008 SEC Championships.
"This is really exciting, especially to be competing against the best athletes in the world and to come out with the victory," said Boyd. "If I got out hard I had a feeling it would be hard for them to catch me. So, I made them try to catch me and they couldn't. At the 250 mark I could feel some of the other runners coming up on me. I was running relaxed at that point, so I knew I had the edge. When I made my move I was able to hold on."
Boyd started out of Lane 8 and had the worst reaction time to the starting gun of all eight competitors. But the freshman made his move late in the race and powered through the finish line to win the World Championship.
"We are very excited to see Marcus win the World Junior Championships," said head coach Todd Harbour. "Coach (Clyde) Hart already called me from Rome and he was pretty fired up about it. After seeing Marcus run such a great leadoff leg for us in the finals of the 4x4 at NCAAs we knew that he was capable of running some pretty fast times. It's good to see him run his PR (personal record) on one of the biggest stages in the world."
Boyd becomes the third World Junior Champion in Baylor history. In 2002, Darold Williamson won the men's 400 meters in 45.37 to win gold, while Deon Minor won the junior title in 1992 with a time of 45.75. Boyd is just the sixth American to win a World Junior Championship in the 400 meters.
In 2002 and 2006, Baylor runners were part of the World Junior Champion 4x400-meter relay teams as Williamson ran the second leg in 2002 and Quentin Iglehart-Summers ran leadoff in 2006.
"It feels great to be part of that great tradition in the 400 at Baylor and carry it on like others have in the program," said Boyd. "This is a nice way to showcase what I can do. During the college season I led off the national championship 4x400 but most of the attention was on LeJerald Betters since he was so good in the open as well. Now this is my time to shine. This meet I had a lot of pressure built up. It was the same at nationals with a lot of pressure built up. So I was able to handle that situation from what I learned during the season at Baylor."
In other action on Thursday, Tiffany Townsend won her qualifying heat in the morning session with a time of 23.70 out of Lane 3.
"I wish I would have already raced a couple of days ago," said Townsend. "It's been a long process, sitting around and waiting while watching others compete. I've been ready to get out and run. My whole strategy today was to get out fast and then chill at the end. I was making sure I wasn't running on the line through the curve and paying attention to details."
In the afternoon session, Townsend won her heat from Lane 6 with a time of 23.65 to record the fourth-fastest time of the semifinals. Townsend will begin Friday's finals from Lane 7. Townsend holds the fastest time of the year among competitors in the 200 meter finals, running 22.75 at the 2008 Big 12 Outdoor Championships.
Players Mentioned
