WEBB TO OPEN OUTDOOR SEASON AT KANSAS RELAYS
By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

The fastest-ever American miler, Alan Webb, will open his outdoor season at the Kansas Relays on April 18, in Lawrence, Ks., the University of Kansas reported today.

Running in the Glenn Cunningham Invitational Mile, Webb's goal is to to run the first sub-four minute mile at the Kansas Relays since Paul McMullen accomplished the feat in 1997 (3:59.88), organizers said.   Webb, 26, who set the American record of 3:46.91 in Belgium in 2007, has broken four minutes for the mile 18 times during his career in track competition (plus two times on the road). 

Webb, who is still coached by his high school coach, Scott Raczko, competed indoors this year, capping his season with a second place finish at the USA Indoor Championships in Boston in the 1500m.  The former prep star at South Lakes Regional High School in Virginia was hampered by hamstring and Achilles injuries last fall, and used the indoor season to get his racing insticts back.  He did not compete in last summer's Beijing Olympics, after finishing fifth in the USA Olympic Trials in the 1500m.

The Kansas Relays record in the mile is held by Kansas legend, Jim Ryun, who clocked in at 3:54.70 in 1967.