Boey, Holm have chance to earn honors

Kevin Murphy / Sports Editor

Eastern senior mid-distance runner David Holm rests after placing second in the men's mile during the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 28 in Lantz Fieldhouse. Holm is running the 800-meter run at the national championships this weekend. (Erin Matheny / The Daily Eastern News)

Zye Boey and David Holm have reached an elite status this season.

The two members of the Eastern men's track team are competing at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships.

Boey qualified for the 200-meter dash, and Holm qualified for the 800-meter run.

It is each athlete's first appearance at the national championships.

The last Panther to participate at the indoor national meet was Gabe Spezia in 2000.

Holm is ranked 12th in the 800-meter run (1 minute, 48.86 seconds). The automatic time is 1:48. Oregon junior Andrew Keating leads the field (1:47.03). Only three runners hit the automatic time this season.

In the 200-meter dash, Boey is ranked 12th with a time of 20.93 seconds. The automatic time is 20.83 seconds. Baylor junior Trey Harts leads the field with a season best time of 20.66 seconds. Only three other athletes were able to hit the automatic time.

Boey said he would have never made it without his coaches and his teammates.

He said they constantly push him to be the best.

"I give them all the credit," Boey said. "I'm only one guy."

Fourteen athletes will compete in the 200-meter dash.

Boey is one of five freshmen in the event.

The national championships are being held today and Saturday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

"It'll be a great atmosphere," Boey said. "Half of these guys are my role models. Now I get a chance to compete against these guys."

The men's 800-meter preliminary run is at 6:15 p.m. today, and the finals of the 800-meter run are at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"In a meet like this, you don't how the race is going to go out," Holm said.

Holm has the second-slowest time, but he is not that far from the leader. He is in the second heat but is also in the same heat at Keating. The top two runners from each heat advance to the final, plus the next four fastest times.

"I don't want to be a spectator," Holm said. "I want to make it to the finals."

Akers said Holm might have a chance at earning All-America honors despite being Canadian.

Americans usually earn All-American honors and foreign athletes earn All-America honors, he said.

The men's 200-meter preliminary dash is at 6:45 p.m. today, and the finals of the 200-meter dash will be run at 8:10 p.m.

There are four heats of the 200-meter dash. The top eight fastest times advance to the final, so Boey has to run a fast race, but still have enough for if he makes it to the final. But he is also the first of four heats, so this weighed against him. If he does make the final, he has a chance at becoming an All-American.

"I really didn't know I was going to be an NCAA qualifier my first season," Boey said. "I can be All-American as a red-shirt freshman."

The last Eastern All-American was during the 2000 season when Spezia finished 10th in the 60-meter hurdles. The last indoor national champion was Jim Maton in 1988.

Ironically, Holm has the second-best 800-meter time behind Maton in the indoor 800-meter run. Maton's time is 1:48.62.


Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.