It took the Carrier Dome crowd less than seven seconds on Sunday to find out who was the fastest man at the Big East Indoor Track and Field Championships.

But Syracuse sophomore Aulton Kohn could have told them who it was months ago.

Kohn sped to first place in the 60-meter dash in a meet-record and personal-best, 6.73 seconds.

‘It felt real good,’ he said. ‘I felt I’d win it after my first race. I didn’t have a doubt about it.’

His first race of the season was a 6.81 clocking at the Cornell Relays on Dec. 4, 2004. He proceeded to win three out of his next four races, and showed improvement from a year ago when he finished fifth in the same race.

Kohn attributed his one-year turnaround to a stricter weight-lifting regimen and a lot of technical skill work. Kohn is not a good starter and there is not a lot of room to make up for that in the dash. But Kohn started well by his standards and powered right past his competition. He threw a victory punch at the air and bounced side to side with an ear-to-ear smile before the win was officially announced. When it was posted on the scoreboard, Kohn jogged a victory lap, hugging and high-fiving teammates and competitors.

‘It felt real good,’ Kohn said. ‘I wanted this since day one so I’m proud of myself. It felt like I got a good push when I saw the person to my left on my side.’

Kohn’s sprint coach Dave Hegland has only been on staff since the summer but was happy with the win and already knows Kohn can go further.

‘It was a little tough not having a preliminary race,’ Hegland said. ‘You have one race to get it done so there’s no margin for error. (Kohn’s) start was better than it has been. But if he can get a start to match his top-end speed, he’ll be on a whole other level. He’s somebody who should be competing on a national level. He’s that kind of talent.’

Kohn had another talented sophomore runner to contend with over the weekend. Rutgers’ Rob Waters was the 100- and 200-meter outdoor champion in 2004, but was not a factor in the 60-meter dash. He was lined up next to Kohn in the 200 on both days though. In the prelims, Kohn drew the outside lane and had a poor start. Waters quickly made up the stagger before holding off Kohn on the last straightaway.

But Kohn said he wasn’t mentally prepared for the finals of the 200, having put all of his energy into the 60-meter final. He finished a disappointing seventh while Waters placed second and then finished off the meet with arguably the most exciting race of the weekend, even though it wasn’t his specialty. Waters, running the anchor leg for the Scarlet Knights’ 4×400 relay, snatched the baton well behind the leaders. But he made quick work of the Carrier Dome track, finishing in a sizzling 47 seconds. He finally edged Villanova at the finish line for the victory. Waters’ win propelled Rutgers into a second place team finish, 2.5 points ahead of Pittsburgh.

‘My legs were real shaky,’ Waters said. ‘I knew the race could make of break the meet, so I just tired to position myself to make a move during the first lap. We did what we knew we could do.’

Waters’ split was almost a full second faster than Seton Hall’s Quentin Bowens, who won the individual 400-meter crown.

So Kohn was officially the fastest man in the building, but Waters more than made up for it later on, setting up some interesting duels for the future.

‘If anyone is here, they’re good athletes,’ Waters said. ‘I’m not taking anything away from him (Kohn), but there’s still outdoors.’

Published on February 20, 2005 at 12:00 pm