by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Sophomore sprinter Jarrin Solomon, the team's fastest 400-meter runner, has some pretty big spikes to fill.
Solomon's father, Michael, won the 1977 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 600-yard dash for UNM. He also competed at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal as well as the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Solomon said he looks up to what his father accomplished as an athlete and tries to learn from him as well.
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"It helps me because he tells me what I'm doing wrong, and he can see what I'm doing wrong," Solomon said. "We sit down every Sunday and talk about how I ran on the weekend. He kind of critiques it and tells me what I need to do."
Solomon has made a name for himself this season, qualifying for the NCAA Midwest Regional and placing second at the Olympic Development section of the 400 at the Mount Sac Relays last Thursday in Walnut, Calif. His time of 47.19 was best among all collegiate athletes, and the only runner to beat Solomon was professional Rashaad Johnson.
While Solomon was pleased to defeat all the other collegiate runners at Mount Sac, he said it wasn't his best race.
"It was all right," he said. "I was hoping to do a little bit better, to tell you the truth. Overall, it wasn't a bad race, but I know I can do better than that."
UNM head track and field coach Matt Henry said Solomon has great potential and the right attitude to be one of the best runners UNM has ever seen.
"I'm really, really pleased with Jarrin," Henry said. "He comes from great stock. He's working hard all the time and he researches the guys he's going to run against every week."
At the Texas Relays, Solomon ran a 46.2 in the 4x400-meter relay, despite getting boxed in during the race. Henry said Solomon would have ran about 45.8 if it would have been a clean race.
Solomon said he has yet to run up to his full potential, and he pushes himself just as much as his father or anyone around him.
"I think I can run with the best of them," Solomon said. "I've got some work to improve on. I just like to hold my standards a little higher."
Solomon said the main area he needs to work on in the 400 is getting off to a faster start in the first 100 meters. He said he usually doesn't get out as fast as some other guys and has to make up time at the end of the race.
Henry said if Solomon can get to the lead early and stay with the leaders, he wouldn't be surprised if he clocked an extremely fast time.
"Some kid is going to take him out really fast one of these times, and he'll be all right," Henry said. "He'll stick with him and run a 44.5 or something."
Solomon said he is happy that he qualified for the regional meet, but his focus is on qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
"My main goal is just to get to nationals," Solomon said. "There are a lot of fast guys in our region. I think it's the best region in the nation. That's been my goal all season: just keep getting better and make it to nationals with all the big guys."
