When somebody tells you, “It’s championship time, anything can happen.” Believe them!  because seriously . . . anything can happen!

In Semifinal 1 of 2 Christopher Fallon of Ohio State took the early pace.  Oklahoma’s Pat Casey, who was undefeated (in a final) this season coming in to today, led the pack through 1200m in 2:59.8.

Considering Casey's great kick that he unleashed at Big XII Championships as he beat his teammate Riley Masters, Casey looked good to take heat 1 and advance to the finals on Saturday. BUT as he rolled around the last curve into the straightaway the pack behind him swung wide and hunted Casey down.

Oregon's Mac Fleet won the heat in 3:41.21 pleasing his hometown crowd at Hayward Field, but Casey fell back to 7^th place putting him on the bubble for advancing to the final.  If 6^th place in the next heat beat Casey’s 3:41.93 then Mr. Undefeated would be headed home early.

Heat 1 of 2 Splits:




In heat number 2, defending champion Andy Bayer of Indiana took the early lead splitting 58.4 through 400m. Wit a few lead changes throughout the race, Notre Dame’s Jeremy Rae hit the bell in first at 2:47, which probably relieved Casey a little realizing the pace slowed.  Casey did end up making it by time, so only the top 5 from heat 2 would advance to the finals.

Potentially being influenced by Rae looking around him and slowing up in the final meters, Wisconsin’s Alex Hatz did the same.  Hatz, who has the 4^th fastest 1500m this season practically walked over the finish thinking he was safe.  A mixture of luck and pure guts helped Patrick McGregor of Texas pass Hatz in the final stride to beat him by .33 seconds.  As McGregor is relived to move on to the finals, Hatz’s 2013 NCAA Champs journey ends.

Heat 2 of 2 Splits: