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O'Brien Places Fourth in 1500m at NCAA East Regional to Advance to NCAA Championships
AU senior will compete for fourth All-American honor

May 31, 2003

Sean O'Brien finished fourth at the NCAA East Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships.

FAIRFAX, Va. — At the NCAA East Regional meet, American University senior Sean O'Brien finished fourth in the 1500-meter final to advance to the NCAA Championships. O'Brien is in pursuit of his fourth All-American honor, a feat never accomplished by an AU student-athlete.

In a race much faster than yesterday's preliminary heats, O'Brien settled into a pack led by Iona's Richard Kiplagat. After a 59.9 second first lap, the field of 12 runners remained tightly bunched. Kiplagat continued to lead through the 800m mark in 2:01 as O'Brien began to make his move.

As the pace began to pick up, O'Brien came up on the outside of the pack to move into the fifth position. The top five runners of O'Brien, Kiplagat, Villanova's Tom Parlapiano, Georgia Tech's Brendon Mahoney and Georgetown's Chris Lukezic broke away from the field after a 59 second third lap. It was apparent that these five runners would earn the five automatic berths into the NCAA Championships.

After the third lap, O'Brien began to make a move and pulled into fourth place. Off the last turn, O'Brien came out wide as the five runners headed towards the finish as all would finish within .65 seconds of each other. Parlapiano claimed the win as Kiplagat outleaned Mahoney for second. O'Brien held off Lukezic by .18 seconds to capture fourth place in 3:43.41, the third-fastest time of his career..

"I made sure that I kept the leader (Kiplagat) in sight throughout the race," O'Brien said after the race. "With 300m left I figured I'd go for it."

Three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Matt Centrowitz was pleased with his senior following the race. "I am very excited for Sean to go back to NCAAs in his final year," Centrowitz said. "We are looking to improve on last year's finish and repeat as All-American."

O'Brien's next meet will be at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. The 1500m preliminaries will be on June 12.