June 24, 2005
CARSON, Calif. - University of Missouri post-collegians Timothy Dunne and Derrick Peterson qualified for Sunday's 800-meter run final at the USATF National Championships in Carson, Calif., on Friday. Dunne placed third in the first heat and Peterson took fourth in the second heat, both earning automatic advances into the final.
Dunne (Jerome, Idaho) clocked 1:47.95 in the first heat, running a race in which he never fell below fourth place.
"I knew I needed to finish in the top four to advance to the final and that was the main focus," said Dunne. "We've been working hard on our racing strategy and Coach [Jared] Wilmes has been telling us how to run off the lead, but not so far to where you have to catch up from far behind."
Dunne, along with heat winner Khadevis Robinson and Kansas State's Christian Smith, separated from the field coming around the homestretch. Dunne was challenged for fourth by 2005 indoor NCAA and USA Champ, Florida A&M's Kevin Hicks, but Dunne held strong for third.
Dunne makes his first national-championship final with the run, a goal he primarily set to begin the season.
"It's been my goal this year to finish ranked in the top 10 in the U.S., obviously you have to make the final to do that, and I'm glad to make it"
Training partner and 2004 Olympian Derrick Peterson also qualified automatically in his semifinal, clocking 1:49.08 in the slower of the two heats.
"I knew coming in that this would be the tougher of the two heats based on who was in the field," said Peterson. "We seemed to have a sluggish start in the first 200 and we all jockeyed for position. In the last 300, it was every man for himself."
Peterson hung back in sixth until the final straightaway when the eight-time Big 12 Champ started to make his classic move. Peterson slipped by Sam Burley and nipped 2004 U.S. Champ and Texas Tech senior Jonathan Johnson at the line, taking the ever-so-important fourth spot. Based on his time, Johnson did not earn the one at-large spot in the final.
Peterson and Dunne are roommates currently at the Long Beach Best Western where the team is staying.
"I'll try to keep him up all night," Peterson said joking about his roommate and final's competitor. "Honestly, seeing Tim and I make the final is just a testament to our hard work this year and all of the good training we had this season. It's great that we are in the final together."
The final is scheduled for Sunday at 5:17 p.m., central, and will be shown live as part of ESPN2's coverage that begins at 4:00 p.m., central.
In more Tiger results, freshman Trisa Nickoley (Tecumseh, Kan.) placed eighth in the final of the junior women's 800-meter run, clocking a 2:11.99. Junior teammate Ashley Patten placed 15th in the first round of the open women's 800, clocking 2:10.12, and will not advance to Sunday's final.
Post-collegian Janae Strickland finished 15th in the women's shot put, throwing her best of the day of 50-8¾ (15.46m)
Early in the morning, freshman Elisabeth Robe (Waukesha, Wisc.) placed 10th in the junior women's shot put. Her best throw of the day was 44-½ (13.42m).
Later in the afternoon, freshman Kasey Kimball (Eureka, Mo.) clocked 4:37.67 in the preliminaries of the junior women's 1500-meter run. Kimball just missed qualifying for the final by 17 hundredths of a second and settled for 13th overall.
A report on freshman Maddie Schueler's run in the junior women's 5000-meter run in the late and cool California night will appear in tomorrow's report.
Tomorrow post-collegian and 2005 North American Champion Fiona Asigbee will be the only Tiger in action as she will compete in the women's heptathlon starting tomorrow.
ESPN will provide live coverage of tomorrow's action starting at 3 p.m., central. Tomorrow's highlights include finals in the 100- and 400-meter runs.
For more coverage, visit usatf.org.