July 6, 2008

EUGENE, Ore. - 2008 La Salle graduate Sean Quigley finished ninth overall in the 10,000m at the U.S. Olympic Trials at the University of Oregon's Harward Field on July 5.

Quigley, who earned All-America honors at the NCAA indoor (5,000m) and outdoor (10,000m) championships, finished in a time of 28:21.96 in the 25-man field.

"He ran tough, it was a really good race," said La Salle head track & fiield coach Charles Torpey.

With 20,000 people clapping and screaming during the entire race it was an incredible atmosphere."

The top three finishers - Abdi Abdirahman (27:41.89), Galen Rupp (27:43.11) and Jorge Torres (27:46.33) - made the U.S. Olympic Team and will head to Beijing, China, for the Olympics this August.

Running to make not only a top-three finish but the Olympic `A' qualifying time of 27:50, Quigley had good positioning as he held onto the eighth spot 15 minutes into the race, but could not keep up with the lead pack in the final laps. His time was nearly 18 seconds slower than his personal best in the 10K this year, 28:03.72.

Although not the end result Quigley was hoping for, the young runner is just beginning his professional running career and according to Torpey, most professional male runners peak between the ages of 28-32.

After graduating with a history degree this past May, Quigley will take on the professional running circuit almost immediately for his new sponsor Puma. His plans include a trip to Europe in a few weeks.

"There were a lot of world championship guys in that race, and Sean has a bright future ahead of him," said Torpey.