In my mind, looking at the data, my time in the 200 shouldn't have made it. "I didn't know from June 10 until the announcement," Means said. A couple of days before, he was moving from Monroeville to Austin, Texas with his girlfriend. Means, a senior data analyst for a pharmaceutical company, didn't find out he had made nationals in the 200 until June 30. Richardson finished second in the women's 200 at nationals (21.94). "I got to see Sha'Carri Richardson run there in her tune-up before nationals." Means' last meet before nationals was June 10 at a Star Athletics Sprint Series (100, 200, 400 dashes and hurdles) event in Orlando. "I thought I would make it in the 100, but it didn't pan out. "My coach (Cal sprints coach Sandy Estep) and I didn't know I would make nationals in the 200," he said. Means said he didn't do as well as he had hoped, but, he said, he expected it might happen after being away from training for three weeks last month. He ran in the preliminaries July 8 and finished 24th overall with a time of 21.74. ![]() Means, who turned 27 on July 2, qualified for nationals in the 200 with a time of 20.93 recorded in May at Track Night NYC. The top six finishers, including Gregory in fifth, went under 20 seconds. ![]() The top eight from the semifinals ran in the 200 finals July 9, and Tampa resident and recent high school graduate Erriyon Knighton won with a time of 19.72 seconds. Sometimes, you could say distance runners can kind of blend in. (The sprinters) look every bit of a pro athlete. That was a great experience and humbling because I know there are next levels to shoot for. There are now only 120 or so people to ever go sub-20 (seconds). It was special to be able to look over and see someone like (Florida's) Robert Gregory in my heat and know that he ran 19.8 this year. "These top guys, you never get to see them run in person. "It was a super cool experience," said Means about his national-championship debut. He recently was able to check that off his list of goals as he ran the 200 meters at the national meet earlier this month at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Means said while he was proud of all he had achieved in his running career, qualifying for USA Track and Field Senior National Championships remained high on his radar. ![]() The Gateway graduate was a multi-time All-American who won eight individual Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference titles while with the Vulcans through the spring of 2019. 23-Jae'Len Means' list of collegiate sprint accomplishments during his time at Cal (Pa.) is long and illustrious.
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