Oliver Finishes Season a Half Second From NCAA Semifinals

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In the NCAA Quarterfinals of the 800 meters Friday night at the 2011 NCAA East Preliminary Round on the E.C. Billy Hayes Track at Indiana University's Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind., senior Darryll Oliver finished a half-second away from qualifying and joining freshman teammate Maalik Reynolds at the NCAA Championship meet in Des Moines, Iowa.

Oliver ran in the first heat and finished fifth with his time of 1:49.83. The top three in each heat automatically reach the NCAA semifinals, meaning the Brooklyn, N.Y., native had to wait and see if he was among the three fastest remaining times. But with the top 12 finishers moving on to the next round of the NCAA Championships, Oliver finished with the 14th-best time. The last remaining qualifier was just 0.52 seconds better than the Quaker. 

Oliver finishes his career in the Red and Blue as three-time NCAA qualifer, two-time NCAA quarterfinalist, three-time outdoor All-East honoree and two-time indoor All-East recipient. He also earned All-Ivy recognition on two occasions and was the 2009 outdoor Heptagonal champion in the 800 meters. He tied the school record as a member of the outdoor 4x800-meter relay and finishes fourth all-time at Penn in the outdoor 800 meters.

On Thursday, Oliver qualified for the quarterfinals with the second-best preliminary time of 1:49.36. In addition, Reynolds reached the NCAA Finals in Des Moines, Iowa, when he tied for first in the high jump.

Senior Luke Grau will be the only member of the Red and Blue stripe uniforms competing on Saturday. He will run in the 5,000 meters at 8:45 p.m.

The NCAA Championship meet extends over two weekends in a three-week span at three different sites. The first weekend is now known as the NCAA Preliminary Round and is broken up into two different sites - East (Bloomington, Ind.) and West (Eugene, Ore.), which host the NCAA first round and quarterfinal round in each event as well as some of the NCAA semifinals.

The top 24 finishers in the first round advance to the quarterfinals where the top 12 will advance to compete in the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 8-11. In the field events, the top 12 in each region advance to the NCAA Finals.