Aug. 30, 2005

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - - Miles Smith, Southeast Missouri State University junior, will run the 400-meters for the USA Track & Field team in the eight-team Decca Nations meet in Paris, France on Saturday.

"USA Track & Field was really impressed by the way Miles ran at the World Championships and selected him to run in the Paris meet," said Southeast coach Joey Haines. "Miles will fly to Paris on Wednesday and run the 400-meters on Saturday."

The Decca Nations meet will be at Charlety Stadium in Paris and will feature teams from France, England, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, China and the United States. The meet will have 10 events, the same events as in the decathlon, with each country having one entry in every event.

Smith, who led off the opening round of the 4 X 400-relay at the World Championships, in a time of 44.81 will be the United States entry in the 400.

"We consider Miles Smith to be one of the up and coming stars of the United States team," said Steve Simmons who will be the head coach of the USA team in Paris. "This meet is an outstanding international event and we are excited to have Smith run for Team USA."