Tulsa
Chris O'Hare - Mile Preliminaries
O'Hare Qualifies For Second-Straight NCAA Championship Final
3/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 9, 2012
Prelim Results l Live Results - Finals l Live Video l NCAA Website l FloTrack
NAMPA, Idaho - All-American Chris O'Hareautomatically qualified for the finals in the mile run at the 2012 Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday at the Jacksons Indoor Track at the Idaho Center.
The junior member of the Golden Hurricane track and field team posted the third-fastest time of 4:04.24 in the preliminaries, and he was one of five runners to break the facility record.
"The goal in the prelims is to just get in the top four, and Chris was able to do that today," Tulsa head coach Steve Gulleysaid. "It's never a bad race if you make the finals, so we're happy with how he performed today."
O'Hare held the lead for the majority of his heat, and he was in front heading into the final 200-meter lap. He let off the gas a little down the home stretch, but was still able to get the automatic qualifying mark.
"He did what he needed to do. He kept the pace and ran a clean race," Gulley said. "He looked back and saw a couple guys get tripped up on that final lap so he just took it easy down the stretch. He just wanted to get in the top four."
There were two heats with 15 total runners, and the top four runners from each heat plus the next two fastest times advanced to tomorrow's final (March 10), which will take place at 7:15 p.m. (CST) and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com.
Defending NCAA champion Miles Batty of BYU won the preliminaries with a mark of 4:03.85. Earlier this season, Batty broke the collegiate record for the mile by running a mark of 3:54.54 at the 2012 Millrose Games.
Right behind Batty was Oklahoma State's Raul Botezan, who finished second in 4:03.87.
Indiana's Andrew Bayer placed fourth in 4:04.69, and Robby Creese of Penn State (4:04.89) rounded out the top five, who all came from the second heat. The other five qualifiers for tomorrow's championship race were Sam McEntee of Villanova, David McCarthy of Providence, Erik van Ingen of Binghamton, Peter Callahan of Princeton, and Rich Peters of Boston University.
O'Hare, Batty and van Ingen are the only three competitors who also qualified for last year's championship race. Batty narrowly edged O'Hare by 0.13 seconds a year ago.
"He has to just run his race tomorrow," Gulley said. "If he does that, then he will be in a position to get the job done."
2012 Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships March 9, 2012 at Nampa, Idaho (Jacksons Indoor Track at the Idaho Center) Mile Run - Prelims Place Name School Time Qualified 1. Miles Batty BYU 4:03.85 (Q) 2. Raul Botezan Oklahoma State 4:03.87 (Q) 3. Chris O'Hare Tulsa 4:04.24 (Q) 4. Andrew Bayer Indiana 4:04.69 (Q) 5. Robby Creese Penn State 4:04.89 (q) 6. Sam McEntee Villanova 4:06.47 (Q) 7. David McCarthy Providence 4:06.66 (Q) 8. Erik van Ingen Binghamton 4:06.81 (Q) 9. Peter Callahan Princeton 4:06.96 (Q) 10. Rich Peters Boston U. 4:07.22 (q) 11. Eric Harasyn Oklahoma 4:07.46 12. Matt Maldonado Long Beach State4:07.60 13. Cory Leslie Ohio State 4:07.61 14. Kirubel Erassa Oklahoma State 4:09.65 15. Nick Happe Arizona State 4:13.18
