May 30, 2001

EUGENE, Ore. – Chad Johnson completed his sophomore season at the University of Kentucky with an 18th-place finish in the preliminaries of the 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday, May 30. The top two in each heat along with the next two fastest times advanced to Friday’s finals.

Johnson finished sixth in his heat with a time of 1:51.08. He entered the competition ranked 16th in the nation with a personal-best time of 1:48.10, which earned him fourth place at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships earlier this month.

The Tifton, Ga., native also finished sixth in the 800 at the SEC Indoors and was a member of the second-place distance medley relay team. The DMR quartet advanced to the NCAA Indoors where it finished second, giving Johnson the first All-America honor of his career.

UK will have one more athlete vying for a national title when freshman Jeff Chakouian takes the field for the shot put competition on Saturday, June 2, at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.