Verburg begins qest for Olympic medal tonight

[GMUSig03]

Sorry, I know it's not basketball, but I figured a lot of you may be interested and probably few would see on the other threads. Prelims tonight, semi's tomorrow night and hopefully he advances to final on Sunday night in 400m. Last year he was US champ and 5th in the world, could finish anywhere from not making the finals to medaling:

http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25200&ATCLID=211115695

 

[Washingtonian]

NBC gave Mason a plug while discussing Verburg.

Verburg does not automatically qualify for tomorrow's semi's as he didn't finish top 3 in his heat.

 

[psyclone]

He ran fourth in 45.48. not sure how that stacks up against those in the other heats. I think they did say that that particular heat has the fastest winning time.

 

[psyclone]

He ran fourth in 45.48. not sure how that stacks up against those in the other heats. I think they did say that that particular heat has the fastest winning time.

They just said Verberg DID qualify for the semis!! Way to go David!

 

[psyclone]

They just said Verberg DID qualify for the semis!! Way to go David!

Here's a link:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/lashawn-merritt-kirani-james-advance-400m-semifinals

 

[GMUSig03]

He advanced, top 3 from each heat advanced to semis and then next top 3 - he was one of those 3. He ran in one of, if not the fastest heat. I watched every heat and each of the other heats only had 2 or 3 guys ahead of the pack, much less competitive then Verburg's heat.

He squeaked into the semis, but his time was actually in the middle of the pack (15th out of 24) of those advancing to the semis, and far off his personal best. I think he just coasted a little too much. He still has a legit chance to make it to the finals, but he is going to have to run a personal best likely to do it.

Interesting additional Mason tie in - Leshawn Merritt, who is the most decorated US 400m athlete, wanted desperately to go to Mason but did not have the grades. He went to ECU instead for 1 year before going pro and signing a deal with Nike. Had he come to Mason, the men's T&F team would have had a legit shot at a top 5 finish at the NCAA's that year.

 

[GMUSig03]

Also, Murielle Ahoure, competing for the Ivory Coast, advanced easily to the semi's of the women's 100m. She is a former Mason standout who pulled a Larranaga and transferred to Miami.

 

[psyclone]

The 3 400m semi fianl heats are scheduled to be run between 7:30-7:45 this evening. Not sure NBC will cover live, but it looks like they are doing taped replay at 12:30 AM (just after midnight Sunday morning).
https://www.google.com/search?q=oly...ll,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,0]

 

[psyclone]

Verberg didn't qualify for the finals--ran 5th in his heat.

http://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-athletics-men-results-idUSISS913918

But I believe he's on the 4 x 400 relay team which is favored for the gold.

 

[GMUSig03]

Verburg anchored the semi's of the 4x400, but gave up the lead at the end (which he then apologized for to the other guys, so it wasn't a case of him just pulling up at the end because they secured the qualifying spot). Unfortunately, he was taken off of the relay for the final tonight, which the US won handily, but he still earns a gold medal. 1st in Mason history?

 

[psyclone]

So you get a gold even though you don't actually run in the finals? Didn't know that. I'm sure it's disappointing not to be included, but I get a sense that David wasn't in top form for this Olympics. There were a few comments to that effect when I watched him in the individual 400 heats.

Nevertheless, to get this far takes an enormous amount of work and dedication.

 

[The Great PATSby]

According to his Twitter, Verburg has been running with a minor injury. It was evident in his first race... You could see the pain in his face. His times have been a whole second slower than his PR. Relative to distance, that's almost 10 meters slower. Feel sorry for the guy. Hopefully it will be fuel for Tokyo. He's still relatively young and will only be 29 next Olypics.