TAMPA, Fla. — USF junior sprinter Abdul-Rasheed Saminu is on a roll. After winning the American Athletic Conference titles in the outdoor 100 and 200 meter dashes last season, he got to represent his native Ghana in the Paris Olympics, competing in the 100 meters and the 4x100 relay. This season, he won the 60 and 200 meter dashes at the AAC indoor meet, earning MVP honors. Now, he's heading to the NCAA indoor national championships.
"It’s been amazing," Saminu, the school record holder in the 60 (indoor), 100 (outdoor), and 200 (outdoor) meters, said after Tuesday's workout. "I made it to the top. My family’s looking up to me. The village, I always put them in front of me. They’re aware [of everything that I do]."
Not bad for a kid who honed his sprinting skills by chasing down prey during hunting season in his homeland. Even though he's traveling and rewriting record books at USF, Saminu said his heart is never far from home.
"My mom is my number one fan - 'God bless you!' [haha]," he said with a huge grin. "My dad is supportive, as well. My family, my friends that I grew up with, they always push me. That pushes me a lot, to do my best. To make them proud."
Pole vaulter Kobe Babin will join Saminu at the indoor nationals. The program record holder in the indoor and outdoor competitions is coming off his second straight AAC title and third overall. If you're looking for anyone to be tense during the meet, Kobe isn't your guy.
"I’m just excited. Nerves don’t really get to me like that," he smiled. "I really want to get [5.72 meters]. That’s a big mark for me. That would hopefully get me to the Olympic Trials. But 5.65 would be a height that I really want to get right now."
Track and field as a whole could be classified as a "sport of inches," but the pole vault is most definitely a "sport of centimeters."
"I think from 4th to 16th we’re all like 5 centimeters apart from each other," Babin, a senior, added. "So I think the competition’s going to be a very close competition. I really think that I can shock some people and show ‘em what I can really do."
Athletes talk about visualizing their success before competitions, but some coaches do exactly the same thing.
"You look at every meet, every venue. You look at the competition. You try to line your student-athletes and your staff up for the best chance at success," said USF head coach Erik Jenkins. "You want to make sure they’re prepared for the moment. We certainly expect both of these young men to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity, which is the NCAA Championships."
The meet runs Friday and Saturday in Virginia Beach, VA. The top eight finishers in each event will earn first-team all-American honors. Jon Dennis is the only male athlete to win a national championship in indoor or outdoor competition. He won back-to-back crowns in the outdoor 5,000 meters in 1992 and '93.
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