Last week the 4x100 meter relay team was named SEC Co-Runners of the Week for posting the fastest world time in 2012 with a 38.30 at the Texas Relays.
"We were surprised," said senior Michael DeHaven. "We were actually in the team room, and someone was flipping through the channels and someone said, 'Hey, look at the TV,' and that was nice. I think it means we're on track.
"We're all trying to prime for the end of the year ... but we have come out and run fast early and feel like we're going to have a huge end of the year."
Coach Ralph Spry said the foursome has been impressive.
"When you look at the measuring stick, that is the third fastest relay they ran in college history and just missed the collegiate record, but broke the school record," Spry said. "But it's pretty exciting because if you take those guys individually, they all have run very, very fast and were All-Americans and SEC national-level type guys.
"You put that type of quality together and I think that's the end result. The fun thing is going to be watching them continue to get better as the season goes."
With the SEC outdoor championships in June, Spry said the team is peaking at the right time.
"With track and field, the most important meet for using the outdoor season is going to be the SEC Championships and the National Championships," Spry said. "Everything from this point is kind of a building process. The SEC is tough from top to bottom.
"Any time you're getting an award for top athlete of the week or whatever, it is quite an accomplishment because there are so many good athletes in the SEC on a week-to-week basis. It just lets you know that it's a great performance at the beginning of the season and we can feed off that energy."
Sophomore Keenan Brock was also part of the four-man team and said setting the record goes along with competing at a high level.
"I was ecstatic," Brock said. "It's always good to go to a meet and compete with high- level competition, and we just wanted to bring some longhorns back to Auburn. We didn't expect to be world leaders; we just wanted to go out and compete, and if you go out and compete your time will come."
Spry said the team is on track with the goals they set at the beginning of the year.
"Really by the time we get to SECs and nationals, they're really going to be totally rested up," Spry said. "I expect them to run a little bit faster at that time of year."
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