Indianapolis, Ind. ? University at Albany's John Moore ran the fastest time in 800-meter run qualifying at the Finish Line USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday, June 21 at Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the campus of IUPUI.
Moore, who just completed his freshman year, won the third heat in a season-best 1:50.21, and was seven-hundredths of a second better than Dylan Ferris, a junior at East Forsyth High School in North Carolina. Moore will run against seven other competitors in Friday's final at 1:40 p.m. The junior national competition, with athletes ranging from 14 to 19 years-old, is the qualifying meet for the 2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. Moore, the Section II record holder at 800 meters, captured the 2006 New York State Division II Boys' state title.
In addition, UAlbany's Joe Greene and Gered Burns competed in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and 800-meter run, respectively, at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The national competition is being held in conjunction with the USA Junior meet
Greene finished sixth in his first-round heat with a time of 50.44 seconds and failed to advance to the semifinal round. He recently placed fourth at the NCAA Division I championships in a school-record 49.92. Burns, who also qualified for the NCAA championships in Sacramento, Calif., was third in the fourth 800m heat by running 1:48.76. However, Burns missed the semifinals by six-hundredths of a second as 36 competitors ran in the four preliminary heats.
Valete Graham finished ninth in the USA Junior men's long jump with a leap of 21-feet, 9.50-inches. Graham had placed third at the 2007 America East Conference outdoor championship as a freshman.
-agate-
USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Qualifiers for Men's 800-Meter Run Final
1. John Moore (UAlbany), 1:50.21, 2. Aaron Stockstell (Mid-Prairie H.S., Iowa), 1:51.09, 3. Cory Primm (Westlake H.S., Calif.), 1:51.09, 4. Dylan Ferris (East Forsyth H.S., N.C.), 1:50.28, 5. Jared Hall (Cleveland Heights H.S., Ohio), 1:50.98, 6. Joshua Morgan (High Point), 1:51.29, 7. Adam Hairston (Iowa), 1:51.56, 8. Michael Mark (Columbia), 1:51.63.
