Uceny Fourth At U.S. Olympic Trials in 1500m 

EUGENE, Ore. -- Exciting competition at the U.S. and Canadian Olympic Trials concluded on Sunday, and the trio of Cornellians who were still competing were outstanding. The highlight was Morgan Uceny '07, who placed fourth in the U.S. Trials in the women's 1500m.

Uceny, running her sixth race in 10 days, ran a personal best 4:10.85 to place an outstanding fourth in the women's 1500m. This is the highest finish by a Cornellian at the U.S. Trials since Brian Clas '94 placed fifth in the 10K in 1996. Running a patient race in only her ninth career attempt at this distance, Morgan split 69.0 for the first lap and then went through 800 just under 2:17. Running her last lap in 64 seconds, she moved up steadily in the last half of the race and made a strong run at the top three who will be going to Beijing, finishing only two seconds out of third. After placing sixth on Monday in the women's 800 final, Morgan concluded her meet with a fourth place finish in the 1500. As the only woman in the meet to compete in both the 800 and 1500 finals, she has stamped herself as one of the very best young talents in American middle distance running. She had a fantastic series of races over the past week: 2:03.91 (3rd in 800 prelim on 6/27), 2:02.10 (1st in semi-final on 6/28), 2:02.16 (6th in 800 final on 6/30), 4:15.93 (5th in 1500 prelim on 7/3), 4:13.61 (4th in semis on 7/4), 4:10.85 (4th in 1500 final on 7/6).

In the men's triple jump, 2008 NCAA Champion Muhammad Halim '08 concluded a fine first Olympic Trials by placing 10th with a mark of 52-8 3/4.

Adam Seabrook '08 placed fifth in the 400 hurdles at the Canadian Championships, running 53.70 after a 51.99 in yesterday's prelims.

What a great week for the Cornellians who competed at their respective National Championships.  Here's a quick summary:

Canadian Trials:
Amber McGown '05: 6th in women's 1500 (4:16.62, 4:19.13 in prelims)
Adam Seabrook '08: 5th in men's 400 hurdles (53.70; 51.99 in prelims)
Cody Boyd '11: 8th in men's 400 (49.01; 48.64 in prelims)

Jamaican Trials:
Rayon Taylor '07: 2nd in men's triple jump (52-3 1/4)

U.S. Trials:
Max King '02: 16th in men's 3000 steeplechase (8:38.86)
Morgan Uceny '07: 6th in women's 800, 4th in women's 1500
Muhammad Halim '08: 10th in men's triple jump (52-8 3/4; 52-11 in prelims)
Jeomi Maduka '09: 12th in women's long jump (19-6 1/4; 20-10 in prelims)

Complete results are at:
U.S. Trials:
http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-TF/schedule.asp

Canadian Trials:
http://www.canadiantrials.ca/Results.aspx#

Jamaican Trials:
http://www.jaaaltd.com/results/natchamps08