WAVERLY, Iowa - Haverford College senior Charlie Marquardt finished fourth place in the 1,500 meter distance preliminary race in the NCAA Championship on Thursday. With the finish, Marquardt has qualified for Saturday's final. The senior runner was the top seed entering the race based on his performance at the Swarthmore Last Chance meet on May 17.
Marquardt's final time stood at 3:48.87, just a fraction of a second off of first place (3:48.72).
The Pasadena, Calif. native raced towards the front of the pack for the entire race. Many of the runners clustered towards the final stretch as the difference between first place and fifth place was just over a third of a second. Marquardt found himself boxed in around the final turn, preventing him from finishing with an even faster time.
With a top-four finish, he automatically qualifies for Saturday's final. To qualify for the final, you must finish in the top four of one of the two heats or the next four fastest times. Marquardt's heat was run at a much quicker pace than the other as it featured eight of the 12 total qualifiers for the final.
Marquardt and the other runners will have a day off to rest before the final race commences on Saturday. It will be the final race of the illustrious Haverford runner's collegiate career.