Day One Recap – Philly Schools at NCAA Men’s East Preliminary Track & Field Meet

All Three Villanova 1500m Runners Advance, Strintzos Qualifies for Nationals in 10,000 Meters

May 26, 2021 –

Day One at the NCAA Eastern Regional meet is in the books. The competition in which Philly schools participated focused on men’s events specifically the 1500m and the 10000m events. All three Villanova runners in the 1500m advanced to the quarterfinal round to be run on Friday. In the final event of the night Haftu Strinzos set a personal best time in the 10000 meters semifinal finishing 6th by making up ground in the last 1600 meters. He qualifies for the national championships in Eugene.

Men’s 1500 Meters

The Wildcats had three entrants and all three made the quarterfinals. The event was run in three heats with the top five finishers in each heat and the next four best times moving on. In Heat 1 Casey Comber placed third with a time of 3:44.12. Charlie O’Donovan got the fifth spot running a time of 3:45.29. Sean Dolan ran in Heat 3. He finished one place outside of the top five, but his time of 3:44.85 allowed him to qualify on time. Comber has the 12th best time with Dolan at 22 and O’Donovan at 24. Eliud Kipsang of Alabama turned in the best first round time breaking the tape in 3:37.17 a facility-best time.

Men’s 10000 Meters

Strinzos and Anthony Russo of the University of Pennsylvania took the starting line at the race. Strinzos was in 15th place going into the last 1600 meters, but used his finishing kick to move up to 6th place. His time of 28:52.71 was a personal best. Russo started quickly and maintained a place in the top group, and was in the lead at the 2400 meter mark with a time of 6:59.27. He faded at the end, then had a 1:06.32 last 400 meter split. Russo finished in 16th and did not qualify to go to Eugene. Alex Masai of Hofstra raced to the top of the pack over the last 800 meters and placed first in the event crossing the finish line with a time of 28:29.97.

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com

Casey Comber Who Ran a 3:44.11 Time in the 1500 Meters

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*