ATHENS, Georgia (CMC):

Grenadian wonder boy Kirani James ran under 45 seconds outdoors for the first time ever to win the 400 metres at the South Eastern Conference (SEC) Championships here Sunday.

The 18-year-old, the reigning World junior champion, clocked 44.86 seconds to finish ahead of Florida's Tony McQuay (45.87) and James Harris (46.19) at the University of Georgia.

His previous outdoor best was 45.01 seconds, clocked at the SEC Championships last year.

on the right track

"Coming around the last turn my focus was on staying relaxed and finishing strong," said the University of Alabama sophomore.

"This result shows to me that we're on the right track and, hopefully, there will be a lot of good things in store in the future for our team."

Running out of lane six, James got a solid start before pacing himself down the backstretch as he ran into a strong wind.

At the 200 metres mark, he accelerated smoothly, motoring past the leaders and then unleashed a burst of speed at the top of the stretch to dismiss his field.

came home strong

"On the back stretch, I just tried to pace myself because the wind can take up a lot of your energy. I paced myself and came home strong," James said afterward.

Only in February, James clocked 44.80 seconds to win the SEC Indoor Championships and move to third on the all-time indoor lists behind the legendary American Michael Johnson and World and Olympic champion Kerron Clement.

James won the 200 and 400 metres titles at CARIFTA Games in 2010 but opted to miss this year's edition of the Caribbean's premier junior track and field meet held in Jamaica last month.

Trinidad and Tobago's Semoy Hackett, meanwhile, won the women's 100 metres, clocking 11.01 seconds to hand Louisiana State University top honours.

Hackett missed out in the 200 metres, however, finishing second in 22.41 seconds behind LSU teammate Kimberlyn Duncan (22.27).