O'Brien wins heat to advance to 800-meter final on Day 2 of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships

MARIETTA - Jimmy O'Brien won Heat 1 of the 800-meter preliminaries to advance to Saturday's final at 2:50 pm at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the Ohio Northern track & field team on Friday at Don Drumm Stadium.

O'Brien's time of 1:50.88 was the fourth-fastest time of qualifying.

The three-time national champion and eight-time All-American will also be competing in the 1,500-meter final Saturday at 1:20 pm in his attempt to win two national championships in one meet.

As a sophomore in 2007, O'Brien won both the indoor and outdoor titles in the 800, and he added another indoor 800-meter title earlier this season.

Ryan Fleming began the day for ONU, racing in the 100-meter prelims.

Fleming was sixth in his heat and turned in the 18th-fastest time of the day at 11.28. Only the top eight move on to tomorrow's final.

Results from O'Brien's two events tomorrow will be posted as soon as the results become official.