May 24, 2008

By Gary Petit

OSHKOSH, WIS.— Ohio Northern junior Jimmy O'Brien completed an outstanding season with fouth place finishes in both the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on the campus of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

O'Brien becomes the first male ONU athlete to earn All-American honors in two events at the same meet. He is also the first Polar Bear to earn All-American honors in the 1,500-meter run.

"I'm happy with how today finished up." said O'Brien. "I was pretty tired after the 1,500 and I ran the 800 exactly how I wanted to. I thought with 200-meters to go, I still had a chance to win."

In the 800-meter race, his second race of the day, O'Brien broke from lane five and found himself in sixth once the field made the turn off the stagger. He slipped back to seventh as the pack crossed the line the first time.

He continued to be stuck in seventh down the final back stretch but with 200-meters to go, O'Brien swung out to lane three and started his kick. He was able to chase down two runners over the final 150-meters to finish fourth with a time of 1:52.09.