Complete Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Junior distance runner Casey Comber (Maple Glen, Pa.) finished second in his preliminary heat of the Mile and was an automatic qualifier for the final at the NCAA Championships on Friday evening.  Comber crossed the finish line in 4:09.31 and will race in the national championship race at the Birmingham Crossplex on Saturday at 5:20 p.m. Eastern time (4:20 p.m. Central).  The race can be seen live on ESPN3. 
 
Comber raced in the first of two preliminary heats of the Mile, with the top four runners in each heat and the next two fastest times moving on to tomorrow's final.  The pace in the opening heat was a methodical one until there were three laps to go around the 200-meter banked track, making the prospect of the two on-time qualifiers coming out of the first heat an unlikely one.  It was just before the bell rang for the final lap of the race that the battle for the top four positions began in earnest. 
 
After biding his time along the rail through the middle of the race, Comber moved to the outside with 300 meters to go.  He surged into third place at the start of the bell lap and made a hard sprint to the finish for the final 200 meters.  The top four finishers in the heat were separated by less than half a second at the finish line, with Sam Worley of Texas (4:09.20) coming in first followed by Comber (4:09.31), Carlos Villarreal of Arizona (4:09.37) and Waleed Suliman of Ole Miss (4:09.68). 
 
This is the first time in his career that Comber has qualified for an NCAA final in an individual track event.  He was previously a first team All-American as the anchor of the Wildcats distance medley relay last season, and was also an All-American in cross country this past fall.  Comber ran the first sub-four minute mile of his career on February 9 at the David Hemery Valentine Invite, where he recorded a time of 3:57.80.  He was ranked sixth among the 16 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships in the Mile.