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Duffy's Season Ends in Disappointment in NCAA 1500m Prelims
Junior fails to advance to finals

Junior Sean Duffy led after one lap in the 1500m preliminaries at the NCAA Championship meet in Austin, Texas, but could not maintain that pace and failed to qualify for the finals.

June 12 , 2004

AUSTIN, Texas — American University runner Sean Duffy (Holmes, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) on Thursday led after the first lap in the second heat in the preliminaries of the 1500m race, but could not maintain that pace throughout, dropping to 12th place and failing to qualify for the finals at the NCAA Championship meet.

Duffy raced out ahead of the pack with a 1:03.7 first lap, but then was passed by defending NCAA 1500m champ Grant Robinson of Stanford. However, the race ended in disappointment for both runners, as Duffy finished the course in 3:49.54 -- 12th place in the second heat and 21st overall -- and Robinson dropped out at the 1300m mark. Robinson had led the race after laps two and three.

The ending was bittersweet for Duffy, whose time was more than five seconds behind his personal best of 3:44.03, the second-fastest 1500m in AU history. The top 12 runners for heats one and two combined moved on to the finals. The 12th-place finisher qualified for the finals with a time of 3:47.39.