June 11, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa - Miami University junior Pat Sovacool has qualified for the finals in the 5,000 meter run by finishing with the seventh-best time in Wednesday night's prelims at the 2008 NCAA Track and Field National Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sovacool, running in the second and fastest heat, came in with a time of 14:15.69, less than six seconds off the fastest time.

With the top six from each of the two heats automatically qualifying for the finals, Sovacool qualified by have one of the next four fastest times. All four of those times came from the second heat as the winner of the first heat ended in a time of just under 14:30.

The product of Lakewood, Ohio will compete in Friday night's final which gets underway at 9:35 p.m. in Des Moines.