100m - 10.73 - 8/24/06
200m - 20.89 - 5/13/06
300m - 32.77 - 8/8/06
400m - 45.19 - 5/14/06
400m Hurdles - 53.21 - 2003
800m - 1:46.11 - 6/8/08
4x100m Relay - 39.20 - 6/10/05
4x400m Relay - 3:00.81 - 6/11/05
4x400m Relay Split - 44.3 (3 times)

9-time NCAA All-American
16-time NCAA Qualifier
University of Oregon School Record Holder in:
...Indoor 400m - 45.95
...Indoor 4x400m Relay - 3:04.17
...Outdoor 4x100m Relay - 39.20
...Outdoor 4x400m Relay - 3:00.81
...Outdoor 300m - 32.77
2-time Academic All-American

• Qualify for the finals in the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 800m
• Finish top 3 at the 2008 Olympic Trials
• Make the finals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 800m
• Run sub 1:45.00

I grew up playing all kinds of sports including basketball, golf, football, and track and field. I attended Red Hill High School in Bridgeport, IL which has about 300 students. Basketball was my main sport until about my junior year in high school. I was a 4-year starter on the varsity basketball team and averaged over 23 points a game my senior year with a game high of 42.

I played football up until my 8th grade year and then stopped. I was a running quarterback...since most were when you are that young. But I stopped playing after that, I'm not really sure why. It may have just been that I wasn't that interested anymore. So I picked up golf in the fall in high school.

I started running when I was a freshman in high school. That first fall semester we had to do fitness tests in our P.E. class. One of those tests was a 400m on the school's brand new all-weather track. Prior to that year the school had a cinder track. So I went out and did what I could since I have always been very competitive. I ran a 57 and my teacher, who was also the track coach, said that was really good, especially for a freshman who is not in shape and in basketball shoes. So he talked me into going out for track that spring. But it didn't go as planned when I broke my leg above my ankle in January playing basketball. But I got released by my doctor in March and 3 days after that opened up my first meet in 55. I PR'd 13 times in a row that year and qualified for state with a PR of 50.90 at the sectional meet. The next week was the state meet and in the prelims, being the only one in my heat not using blocks (I didn't know 400 runners used them) I qualified for the finals with a 49.49. It wasn't until several years later I understood how good that was for a freshman to run under 50 sec.

From there I just kept working hard. My coach, Fred Kendall, was a great basketball coach but didn't know as much about track as he did basketball. So it was a learning process for both of us, especially for my training. What he was really great at was mental coaching. He had me prepared for every race I ever ran in high school. My junior year was my big year. I had improved nicely and had just broken into the 47's when I got invited to one of the bigger meets in southern Illinois. So after running my first ever 47, I ran against some of the best in the state and PR'd with a 46.67 (hand time). After that the occasional questionnaires I had been getting turned into piles of mail and in time, lots of phone calls.

I was actively recruited by over 40 colleges and universities that summer and fall. My top list included Missouri, Oregon, Cornell, Nebraska, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan, and Brown. I took visits to Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Oregon. I decided on Oregon with Steve Silvey as my coach.

Freshman year at Oregon I had some achilles tendonitis that set me back in the winter but still had a very solid fall base. That fall was what alot of our group refer to now as not that season's base but life's base. My volume increased probably 20x from high school and I still think my career has benefited from those 12 weeks. Coach Silvey tried me at the 400 hurdles but we soon found out that wasn't going to work so well so I went back to the 400.

After that year Coach Silvey moved on and Dan Steele (an Olympic Medalist) moved in. I really like Dan, he is from IL and was a national champion at Eastern Illinois University where all of my state meets were held. I completely bought into his system and it helped bring about two of the best years ever at Oregon in the sprints. During those two years our sprint team set 7 indoor and outdoor school records including taking the 4x400 record from 3:06 to 3:00.81 and winning Oregon's first ever 4x100 conference title.

During my senior year I injured my hamstring during the indoor season. As a way to get a little more base work in, I ran a couple 800's early in the outdoor season. At the end of March I ran an 800 at USC and ran a 1:50.25. That is probably the race that showed my potential of being an 800m runner and has led me to where I am now.

I finished my career at Oregon with 4 school records and PR's in 6 individual events including my Pac-10 winning time of 45.19. I was also the first athlete in NCAA history to qualify for a regional meet in the 200m, 400m, and 800m in the same year.

Since graduating, I have signed a contract with Nike and have moved up events to the 800m. I have joined the Oregon Track Club - Elite coached by Frank Gagliano which is based in Eugene, Oregon.