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O'Brien Advances to 1500m Final at NCAA East Regionals
Seymour runs second-fastest 5000m ever at AU

May 30, 2003

Sean O'Brien advanced to tomorrow's final of the 1500m at the NCAA East Regional.

FAIRFAX, Va. — American University senior Sean O'Brien completed the first step in his quest to become AU's first four-time All-American as he advanced to the finals in the 1500-meters at the NCAA East Regional. O'Brien cruised to second in his heat, running 3:48.34. Junior Matt Seymour ran the second-fastest 5000m in AU history, running 14:16.06 to place 12th.

All four of the 1500m heats were tactical races as the runners competed for a spot in the final as the top two in each heat and the next four fastest times advanced to tomorrow's final. O'Brien's race was no different as a tight pack came through the first lap in 65 seconds. The pace was quicker in the second lap as O'Brien was in the middle of the pack as the first 800m was run in 2:07.

On the third lap, O'Brien began to move up on the outside of the field. With 450m left, Villanova's Tom Parlapiano took the lead and O'Brien went with him. O'Brien pulled even with 200m remaining and the duo came down the straightaway. O'Brien checked his position as he neared the line and eased across, just behind Parlapiano as he advanced to the final which will be run Saturday at 4:15 p.m.

Seymour ran in an extremely large field in the 5000m with 44 runners competing. He started in the middle of the pack as the field was tightly bunched through the first mile of 4:25. The pack began to break apart at the mile, but Seymour positioned himself in the front group. The lead pack was still very large with 17 runners together.

In the second mile, the pace remained fast as the pack was whittled down to 13 with Seymour still up front. After a second mile of 4:33, Iona's Richard Kiplagat dropped the pace yet again and the group of 13 split into three sections. Seymour continued to run well, running a 4:41 final mile for his time of 14:16.06. His time is a personal best by 10 seconds and is the second-fastest ever by an AU runner.

In the third heat of the 1500m earlier in the day, sophomore Sean Duffy and freshman Phil Gaeta competed. This race was the slowest heat of the meet as the pack came through the first lap in 66 seconds and the 800m in 2:09. Duffy and Gaeta were both running in a very tight pack, in which Duffy lost one of his shoes during the race.

Gaeta ran in the second position while Duffy was in the pack before he began to move up with 400m remaining. The tactical pace forced the runners into a kicker's race. Gaeta finished seventh in the race, running 3:53.81 while Duffy was eighth in 3:54.26. Gaeta and Duffy were 27th and 31st, respectively in the meet.

Tomorrow, O'Brien will compete in the 1500m final run at 4:15 p.m. for a chance to go to the NCAA Championships.