US-based Sunderland Harrier Oliver James showed impressive form in the recent Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The McNeese State University Junior (third-year) travelled the 580 miles from his base in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to the championships in Birmingham, Alabama and despite fierce competition from 11 other top universities in the south central region, he came away with a bronze medal in the Mile and an impressive lead-off leg in the Distance Medley Relay (1200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m).

First up was the Distance Medley Relay, and Oliver cruised to an impressive 3:02 to lead after the initial leg, which showed he is in good shape, a fact confirmed just 40 minutes later when he was back on the track for the Mile preliminaries. Oliver ran 4:14.89 easing up to comfortably qualify for the following day's final.

The final the following day was a cagey affair, but burst into life when Oliver hit the front with 400m to go. Despite his valiant efforts against a high-quality field however, he was passed in the closing strides by Jeffrey Moore of Sam Houston State University, who took the title in 4:12.91, and Lamar University's Sam Riker, for whom 4:13.48 was enough for silver. Oliver's 4:13.59 brought him a well-deserved and hard-earned bronze medal.

The Southland Conference meet is used by athletes both as a gauge as to how their winter training has progressed, and as a platform for the forthcoming NCAA outdoor season and in both respects Oliver showed his winter is progressing very much as planned, with hopefully more to come once the action moves outside.