Ellison 4th in NCAA Semi-Final Heat of the 800 metersFails to Claim Repeat Spot in National Final

Sam Ellison started off Villanova's contingent at the NCAA national meet this afternoon by competing in the second of three 8-person 800 meter semi-finals.  Each heat's top two finishers were assured of a spot in Friday's final, and the next two fastest non-automatic qualifiers overt the three heats would advance as well.

Ellison finished fourth in his heat, in 1:50.99 and was eliminated from the competition.  Ellison was attempting to return to the event final that he made at last year's national meet.  He split 55.34 at the 400 mark in fourth place.  He faded a bit over the first 200 meters of the final lap, but recovered well at the end to reclaim fourth place, finishing in 1:50.99 (for a second lap of 55.65).

Here are the full results from the three heats:

Event 4  Men 800 M
================================================================            
 3 Heats. Advance top 2 from each heat plus next best 2 to final            
    American: A 1:42.60  8/28/1985   Johnny Gray, Santa Monica T            
College Best: C 1:44.3h  6/10/1966   Jim Ryun, Kansas                       
   NCAA Meet: M 1:44.70  6/1/1990    Mark Everett, Florida                  
    Name                    Year School                 Prelims             
================================================================            
Heat  1 Preliminaries                                                       
  1 Leoman Momoh              SR Arkansas               1:47.44Q            
  2 Declan Murray             SR Loyola (Ill.)          1:47.48Q            
  3 Harun Abda                SR Minnesota              1:47.78q            
  4 Travis Burkstrand         SR Minnesota              1:48.74q            
  5 Harry McFann              JR Columbia               1:48.76  1:48.752   
  6 Grant Grosvenor           SO Montana State          1:49.41             
  7 Ricky West                SR Penn State             1:49.87             
  8 Ryan Waite                SR BYU                    1:50.57             
Heat  2 Preliminaries                                                       
  1 Casimir Loxsom            SR Penn State             1:48.71Q            
  2 Eliud Rutto               FR Mid. Tenn. State       1:48.91Q            
  3 Sean Obinwa               JR Florida                1:49.23             
  4 Samuel Ellison            JR Villanova              1:50.99             
  5 Hector Hernandez          FR Texas A&M              1:51.37             
  6 Tomas Squella             FR Arkansas               1:53.27             
  7 Anthony Lieghio           SR Arkansas               1:55.08             
  8 Kisean Smith              FR Georgia                1:56.45             
Heat  3 Preliminaries                                                       
  1 Elijah Greer              SR Oregon                 1:48.76Q 1:48.755   
  2 Brannon Kidder            FR Penn State             1:49.01Q            
  3 Patrick Rono              SO Arkansas               1:49.17             
  4 David Mokone              JR Western Kentucky       1:50.38             
  5 Russell Dinkins           SR Princeton              1:50.70             
  6 Charles Grethen           SO Georgia                1:51.91             
  7 Josh Hernandez            SO Texas A&M              1:53.78             
  8 Brandon Lasater           SO Georgia Tech           1:54.27