Distance runner makes NCAAs

Tuesday, the NCAA released the roster for those who will compete at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend. Sophomore John Jefferson was waiting for the list to let him know if he will attend the meet as a participant. Jefferson was sitting at 25th in the mile and needed to be among the top 15 to qualify for the meet.\n"I didn't want to be waiting around for the list to come out, so instead I went out and studied and had (sophomore Stephen) Haas call me to let me know," Jefferson said. "Earlier coach had told me I was pretty much in and we had a pretty good idea that I was."\nJefferson was fortunate as many of the runners ranked ahead of him in the mile qualified for other events as well and chose not to race the mile at nationals. Rarely do enough people drop from the event that the 25th ranked athlete qualifies.\n"It happened to be one of those years where a lot of people who qualify in the mile opt to go into the 3000m or the distance medley," coach Marshall Goss said. "It opened up a chance and John's got to be very appreciative of it. He's got to go out and show everyone what kind of miler he is."\nJefferson is certainly deserving of the bid. He ran in nationals for the indoor season last year and earned All-American status at the meet, finishing 10th place with a time of 4:11.78. He is confident he can better that performance this year.\n"I'm mentally prepared because I've beat a lot of the guys who are ranked high," Jefferson said. "All I have to do is make the finals and go from there."\nGoss said he expects Jefferson to be in the mix at the end of the race. One of Jefferson's strongest assets as an athlete is his kick, which is among the best in the race. If he is near the lead in the last lap, he has as good a chance to win it as anyone else.\n"I think he knows he's a major player," distance coach Robert Chapman said. "All of the variables are in place for him."\nAs only a sophomore, Jefferson has a chance to establish himself among the greats of Indiana's storied distance program. He is following in the footsteps of Olympian Bob Kennedy, who races as a slightly longer distance than Jefferson. Like Kennedy, Jefferson earned All-Conference honors as a freshman in cross country and won Big Tens in the mile this year.\nOne of Jefferson's goals coming into the season was to crack the four-minute mile barrier, but it would actually be beneficial if the race was slower because of his kick. However, Chapman said Jefferson's fitness is wonderful and he can be competitive in either style of race. The race will require a preliminal and much of the style of race will be determined by how the runners recover from that.\n"The speed is there and the fitness is there but what's going to determine how well he does is if the killer instinct is there," Chapman said. "If that killer instinct is there, he certainly will be a major factor in the race, mainly because of his kick"