DES MOINES, Iowa – Former Northwestern State All-American sprinter Micah Larkins drew a stacked heat in the opening round of the 100 meters in the USA Track and Field Outdoor National Championships on Thursday.
 
Running into a 2.0 mph head wind, Larkins clocked a 10.46 in his second appearance at the national championships, finishing 0.05 seconds outside of an automatic qualification for Friday's round of 16. The head wind was the stiffest among the four heats that took place Thursday afternoon. 
 
Running just his second meet since injuring a tendon at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships in early May, Larkins finished 20^th overall among the 32 competitors. The top three times in each of the four heats and the top four remaining times advanced to Friday's semifinal round.
 
The Haughton High School product, who signed a professional contract with World Express Sports Management earlier this month, trailed Ronnie Baker (10.26), Kendal Williams (10.37), Kenzo Cotton (10.41), Cameron Burrell (10.43) and Bryce Robinson (10.45) in the third of four heats at Drake Stadium.
 
 Isiah Young of Team Nike ran the top time of the four eight-man heats, clocking a 10.14 in Heat 2, 0.02 ahead of 2017 world champion Justin Gatlin.