May 26, 2006

Complete Results

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Dan Huling (Geneva, Ill.) placed eighth in the 5,000 meters and freshman Pat Sovacool (Lakewood, Ohio) and senior Chris Swisher (Milan, Ind.) finished 13th and 16th in the 1,500-meter preliminaries, respectively, as the Miami University men's track and field team wrapped up the first day of competition at the NCAA MidEast Regional.

At the Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, Huling was the top Miami finisher with his eighth-place time of 14:17.94 in the 5,000 meters. As the top finisher in the event from the Mid-American Conference, Huling did not automatically qualify for the regional meet as he finished outside of the top five, but he has a chance to qualify as an at-large selection. In order to be eligible for an at-large bid, an athlete must finish among the top 12 in their event. Josphat Boit of Arkansas (14:00.73) won the 5,000-meter race, while Tonny Okello of South Alabama (4:01.15) and Chris Solinsky of Wisconsin (14:02.01) rounded out the top three finishers.

In the preliminary heats of the 1,500 meters, Sovacool and Swisher placed 13th and 16th, respectively. Sovacool clocked in with at time of 3:52.31, while Swisher finished in 3:58.12. Both runners narrowly missed proceeding to the finals of the 1,500 meters as only the top 12 times advanced to Saturday's finals.

Huling is the only men's track athlete scheduled for competition on Saturday as he will run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The event is slated for 8:10 p.m.