Solving the mystery: Clayton’s Alexander Osayemi actually did run on Alabama’s 2nd-place 4×4 at NCAAs and earned All-America honors as a freshman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Mystery solved: Clayton’s Alex Osayemi did run on Alabama’s 1,600-meter relay team at NCAAs last weekend in Fayetteville.

Easy to miss considering there are no names listed in either the live results or the *.pdf event results – way to go NCAA and FlashResults! – and he is not listed among the Alabama runners who were scheduled to run before the race began.

According to the official start list, Mouatez Abderrazek Sikiou, Tarsis Gracious Orogot, David Thid and Samuel Ogazi were scheduled to run for Alabama.

But according to Alabama’s web site, Osayemi and not Thid ran the 3rd leg for the Crimson Tide, who placed 2nd in 3:03.60. The site says Sikiou and Orogot ran the first two legs, and Samuel Ogazi, the national 400 champ, anchored.

If that is correct, Osayemi split 45.90, handing off to Ogazi at 2:17.95. Ogazi anchored in 45.65.

That 3:03.60 is 4th-fastest in Alabama history. Alabama had run 3:04.39 earlier in the indoor season at Clemson with Osayemi leading off.

Alabama ran 3:02.29 in February in the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson with Sikiou, Orogot, Thid and Ogazi. That time was 4th-fastest in the world during the indoor season. The 3:03.60 was 14th-fastest in the world this year but not eligible for the U.S. list because Sikiou is Algerian, Orogot is from Uganda and Ogazi is from Nigeria. All four would have to be from the U.S. to be eligible for the U.S. list, but Alabama used three international runners and one from Clayton.

So Osayemi becomes an All-America in his first season of collegiate track. Osayemi ran 46.80 in Albuquerque in February, which made him the 2nd-fastest freshman in the SEC this winter. At Clayton, his indoor PR was 48.57 at last year’s Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze. Outdoors he ran 46.08 when he won broke the meet record at the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken. That time is No. 3 in state history behind Clayton Parros of Seton Hall Prep (45.71 in 2009 in Albuqurque) and Dennis Mitchell of Edgewood (46.02 in Elmhurst, Ill., in 1984).

Alabama opens its outdoor season this weekend at the Raleigh Relays.

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