Eagle senior finishes 12th in the nation in 800m

June 7, 2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - American University's Dustin Emrani finished off his outstanding career as an All-American Thursday night, finishing 12th in the nation in the 800 meters at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Emrani becomes just the 11th track All-America in school history and is the first AU athlete to earn the honor in the 800 meters.

Placed in the first of two semifinal heats, Emrani ran 1:49.67 for eighth in his heat and failed to advance to final as the 12th fastest overall in the semifinals. In order to be All-American, one must be in top-eight among Americans. Emrani's time placed him seventh as five foreign born athletes were faster.

The All-America certificate will be the lasting highlight of Emrani's illustrious career as an Eagle. A largely unheralded high school runner whose personal best in the 800m was a mere 1:55, Emrani was an apprentice freshman year behind Eagle middle-distance standouts Sean Duffy and Phil Gaeta. By sophomore year, Emrani stepped to the forefront, becoming the best 800m runner in Patriot League. He lowered his best to 1:50, won both the Patriot League Indoor and Outdoor 800m titles and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. As a junior, Emrani set the school record in the 800 with a 1:49.67 clocking, but fell short of making his second trip to the NCAA Championships. In his last track season, the Great Neck, N.Y. native simply took himself to another level. Indoors he won the 800m title and anchored the AU 4 x 800m relay to victory. Outdoors, Emrani was undefeated in all but his last 800m race, winning the 800m at Patriot League's, anchoring the 4 x 800m relay to its sixth straight title and becoming just the second Eagle in school history to win an NCAA East Region title. At Regionals Emrani shattered his own school record and proved himself to be the upper echelon of 800m runners in the country with his 1:48.06 clocking.

In total, Emrani won 12 Patriot League titles - (two outdoor 800m, three indoor 800m, four outdoor 4 x 800m relay, three indoor 4 x 800m relay), has one individual school record and three school records on relays.

Emrani's personal best of 1:48.06 from the NCAA East Regional earned him the "B" qualifier for the USATF Championships later this month and it is yet to be determined whether the AU senior will compete.

http://aueagles.cstv.com/sports/c-track/recaps/060707aab.html