March 9, 2007

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Navy men's track& field junior middle distance runner Paul Harris (Woodbury, Minn.) qualified for the NCAA Championship finals in the 800-meter run with his second-place showing during the first heat of the preliminary round on Friday afternoon at the Randal Tyson Track Center.

"The race really came down to the wire," stated Navy assistant coach Al Cantello. "Early on it looked like Paul was holding back, a man among boys for three laps. However, everyone reached another gear during the final lap. Paul faltered a little bit at the finish, but it didn't matter because he was at the finish line."

The top-two runners in both heats, plus the following four-fastest times qualified for the finals. The top-six American runners in the championship final on Saturday will earn All-American status.

The Navy junior completed the race with a time of 1:48.91, only 0.33-second behind Jamaal James' 1:48.58 clocking to win the heat. Harris' showing ranks second in school history, only behind his 1:48.46 effort at the Iowa State Classic that qualified him for the NCAA Championship this weekend. He entered Friday's action with the third-fastest time among the championship field and finished ahead of both runners during the prelims (Thomas Chamney - Notre Dame, Shaun Smith - Oral Roberts).

Harris' time in the first heat on Friday would have won the second heat by nearly one full second, as Michigan's Andrew Ellerton paced the field with a 1:49.83 showing during the second race.

Cantello added, "(Stephen) Cooksey did a great job with this young man, not being too greedy during the season. Paul (Harris) is definitely not a one-trick pony."

Harris will compete for the national title and All-American status tomorrow evening, as the 800-meter run finals are slated for a 7:45 p.m. EST start.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
March 9, 2007
Fayetteville, Ark.
Randal Tyson Center
800-meter Run Prelims

Heat  1  1 Jamaal James              FR LSU                    1:48.58Q  2 Paul Harris               JR Navy                   1:48.91Q  3 Thomas Chamney            SR Notre Dame             1:49.06q  4 Kyle Smith                SR Northern Iowa          1:49.10q  5 Austin Abbott             JR Washington             1:49.34q  6 Tyler Mulder              SO Northern Iowa          1:50.14  7 Marcus Mayes              SR Missouri               1:50.35  8 Rueben Twijukye           SO LSU                    1:52.12Heat  2  1 Andrew Ellerton           SR Michigan               1:49.83Q  2 Ryan Brown                SR Washington             1:49.87Q  3 Shaun Smith               JR Oral Roberts           1:49.91q  4 Elias Koech               JR Texas-El Paso          1:50.08  5 Dominic Tanui             SO Texas-El Paso          1:50.17  6 Girts Azis                JR Wichita State          1:51.34  7 Tim Harris                JR Miami                  1:52.22  8 Larry Brooks              SR Texas-San Antonio      1:53.76