Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Washington Invitational
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Maag Nearly Breaks Four-Minute Barrier At Husky Classic
February 17, 2008 | Men's Track and Field
Princeton's Michael Maag nearly surpassed one of the most famous barriers in all of sports Saturday at the University of Washington's Husky Classic, finishing third among collegiate runners in the mile and just inches short of the four-minute barrier.
Maag's time was 4:00.43, the second-best indoor mile in school history behind the legendary Bill Burke '91, who ran a 3:58.70 17 years ago at the Millrose Games.
The Princeton junior, a native of Lake Oswego, Ore., just a few hours away from Seattle, qualified provisionally for the NCAA championship meet in March in the mile. He finished behind only Stanford's Garrett Heath and Oregon's Matt Centrowitz among collegiate runners, and his time was nearly two seconds better than he ran on the same track in Seattle last season. The NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the mile is 3:59.50.
Senior captain David Nightingale also ventured to Seattle Saturday, and he also earned provisional NCAA qualification in the 5,000 meters. His time was 14:09.14 for the 25 laps. Only 14 seconds separated the winning time from the 20th-place time in the event; all 20 of those runners ran NCAA provisional qualifying times.
Nightingale's time was the third-best indoor 5,000 in school history, behind only his own mark of 14:06.40 at last year's Heptagonal meet and Frank Macreery's 14:07.76 at Notre Dame in 2006.