UNC senior Kenny Selmon made his season debut in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational at Cobb Stadium on the campus of the University of Miami, and did so with quite a bang.

Selmon’s time of 49.00 was the best in the nation so far this season, and fifth-best time in the world.

It wasn’t quite the best time of Selmon’s career–that would be a 48.60 he ran at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships–but he proved to anyone watching that he has big plans for the year ahead.

On the women’s side, sprinter Brianna Duncan continued her hot start to the season as well.

In her first time ever competing in the 200 meter dash, Duncan ran a 23.13–breaking a school record that had stood for 21 years. This comes after already breaking the UNC records in the 60 meter and 100 meter races earlier this season.

“Those two are exceptional, exceptional kids,” UNC head coach Harlis Meaders said afterwards. “Brianna is consistently performing at a high level week in and week out, and we are still looking forward to championship-level performances in the championships competitions from her.

“Of course Kenny was fourth in the 400 hurdles at the 2017 NCAA Championships, he has been on the award stand out there twice, but his ultimately goal is to be an NCAA champion,” the coach added. “What a statement for his first meet to come out and run the No. 1 time in the country.”

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics