July 5, 2008

Olympic Trials 10K results

Eugene, OR- La Salle graduate Sean Quigley '08 (Braintree, MA/Archbishop Williams) ran to ninth-place (28:21.96) in the 10K event in his professional debut at the Olympic Trials at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field Friday night.

"He ran tough, it was a really good race," said La Salle Head Track & Field 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 eight 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.