Red-shirt junior Norvel Mohammed is coming off of an EIU Big Blue Classic meet record last weekend in the 200-meter dash with his time of 20.60 seconds.

He also tied for first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.54 seconds last weekend and anchored the men’s 4×100 relay team that placed second.

In the indoor season, Mohammed placed himself in the Eastern top 10 ranks for the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter dash and the 4×400 meter relay. His time of 47.05 seconds in the 400-meter dash has him at second all-time and his 200-meter dash score of 21.23 seconds put him at fifth all-time.

Mohammed said that he is ‘too tall’ for indoor track and prefers being outdoors. He also prefers the 200-meter dash over other events.

“For the 200-meter, the distance is not too far, not too short,” he said. “The 100 doesn’t give me enough time to get to full speed, for the 200 I can hit the curve and take off.”

Zye Boey, who is the owner of numerous records here at Eastern, is a good reason why Mohammed is here running track right now.

“My freshman year of junior college, the 2012 Big Blue Classic, saw Zye Boey run,” he said. “This boy dusted me, and I thought, EIU, this is the place I need to be at.”

Mohammed previously attended Lincoln College where he ran in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. He was a junior college All-American in the 400-meter dash where he placed seventh at the national meet with a time of 46.68 seconds.

He advanced in the Junior College National Championships in the 200-meter, 400-meter and the 4×100 relay. He advanced to the outdoor nationals in both his years at Lincoln College.

Mohammed credits his work ethic as the main reason he has gotten off to such a hot start this outdoor season.

“Training and being in the weight room a lot, not taking days off,” he said. “It’s showing off on the track.”

Norvel is from Sun Prairie, Wisc. where he attended and ran track at Sun Prairie High School. He was second in the Wisconsin Division I State Championships as a senior in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.87 seconds.

Mohammed suffered the worst injury of his career while in high school.

“Senior in highschool, my body was feeling a little tight from the meet the night before,” he said. “We were playing speedball and I went to kick the ball and the kid removed the ball, and I tore my calf in half.”

That injury doesn’t seem to be harming him too much as he is off to a good start and has big things he wants to achieve this season.

“I want to become an All-American and a national champion in the 400 and 200,” he said.

Ephraim Dorsey, a senior middle-distance runner is someone who serves as a role model to Mohammed.

“Ephraim Dorsey, he gets things done, takes care of business and takes no days off,” he said.

Easter coach Tom Akers reflected on the recruiting process of Norvel Mohammed.

“He ran at Lincoln College, the junior college, they come over to a lot of our indoor meets,” he said. “We noticed him there, we saw he had a great range from the 60 up to the four, and we have a pretty good relationship with his coach over there at Lincoln College.”

Akers thinks Eastern has been the right fit for Mohammed.

“I think he enjoyed meeting some of the guys on the team and we’re lucky enough to get him in here and I think it’s been a good fit for him as far as the things he needs to be successful, not only on the track, but also in the classroom,” he said.

Mohammed and teammates have five more meets this season until the OVC Outdoor Championship in May.

Mark Shanahan can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].