By Don Williams | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Even if he were only a fan, Texas Tech’s Gil Roberts would be paying close attention when the runners in the finals of the 400 meters are called to the blocks Saturday at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships.

“The 400’s going to be something to watch,” Roberts said. “There are a lot of great runners running it.”

Roberts, who wants badly to emerge as best of the bunch, is one of Tech’s top hopes in the national meet that starts Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark. The sophomore from Oklahoma City Millwood has been building toward this week throughout a strong spring in which he’s run some of the top 400-meter times in the world, let alone the nation.

Texas Tech's Gil Roberts, right, competes in the Big 12 Track & Field Championships last month at Texas Tech. (Photo by John A. Bowersmith)

“I think I’m as prepared as I’m ever going to be,” he said. “Coach has put me in the right position, has my legs feeling as great as they can feel. My stamina’s up. This is the best I’m possibly going to feel going into nationals.”

Feeling his best is something Roberts doesn’t take for granted. More than once this spring, he’s mentioned nothing makes him happier than simply being healthy on a week-in, week-out basis. As a freshman, he battled recurring hamstring problems that caused him to miss races in the spring season.

A nationally sought recruit coming out of high school, Roberts went to the NCAA outdoor meet last year as a freshman, but as a relay-team member, not in the 400. Given an extended stretch of good health, his abundant talent has been realized the last few months.

Roberts has been ranked first or second in the NCAA throughout the spring season. Cheered on by a home crowd at the Fuller Track Complex, he won the Big 12 title and broke 45 seconds.

Plus, ever since he finished second in the 400 three months ago at the NCAA indoor meet in College Station, Roberts has used the near-miss as motivation.

“Oh, definitely. Definitely,” he said. “I’ve been working ever since then. I haven’t stopped training hard. It’s been on my mind ever since I lost.”

If Roberts is going to get a national title, this weekend might be his best chance, even though the athletes who finished fourth and fifth last year are back. There’s no guarantee that, come next year, he’ll even be the best quarter-miler on the team. Tech eagerly awaits the arrival of signee Latoy Williams from nearby South Plains College who, like Roberts, has run times this spring that rank among the best in the world.

Williams, a sophomore from the Bahamas, beat Roberts head-to-head at a Baylor meet this spring and won the NJCAA national title in 44.73 seconds, faster than Roberts has ever run.

Roberts says he and Williams will make each other better in the 400 and make for a salty 1,600-meter relay team.

“It’s going to be crazy,” Roberts said. “Me and him and the rest of us that’s on this team, we’ll do some real good things.”

Of the six Red Raiders who traveled to Fayetteville on Monday for the 1,600 relay, only Rodney Mims is a senior. That relay is another event for which Tech coach Wes Kittley has high hopes.

Tech got points from it last year with a sixth-place finish. Two weeks ago at the Midwest Regional, the Raiders whipped out a time of 3:02.75, a big improvement that moved them to third in the nation in that event.

“I’m going to be really hoping for a top-three finish out of that group,” Kittley said. “Florida State, Baylor, us and Texas A&M, we’re just really close. I’m very proud of that last mile relay. Boy, we ran really, really tough.”

Kittley will have some decisions to make on how to use his quarter milers. There are 26 qualifiers for the men’s 400. That means just to make the finals, Roberts must advance through a preliminary on Wednesday and a semifinal on Friday.

“The biggest part of getting there is just getting through that first day,” Kittley said. “That first round, everybody is running like you’ve never seen people run. That’s what makes it extremely tough at this meet. That first round a lot of times is faster than the final.”

Kittley is wary of running Roberts five times this week – through three rounds in the 400 and two rounds in the 1,600 relay.

To keep Roberts fresh and give him his best shot in the 400, Kittley is considering not using him in the semifinal of the 1,600 relay. He can pick any four from the six athletes at his disposal.

Mims, Roberts, Brandon Washington and Lamont Adams ran the 3:02.75 at regional, when Baylor’s Quentin Iglehart-Summers edged Roberts at the tape. One of the alternatives is to replace Roberts in the semifinals with Tim Foster, who was part of the team that finished sixth in last year’s NCAA outdoor final.

Roberts said he’s done well this year recovering between the 400 and running a leg on the relay.

“My body’s handled it just fine, perfect,” he said. “I think coach put me in the right positions in practice, so I can handle that when the meet comes. It’s not too much of a hassle.”

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