LEXINGTON, Ky. - Redshirt freshman Logan Wetzel (Saline, Mich.) and sophomore Ville Lampinen (Vantaa, Finland) each advanced out of their national first round heats at the NCAA East Preliminary at the Kentucky Outdoor Track & Field Complex on Thursday evening. Wetzel was an automatic qualifier for the quarterfinal heats of the 1500 meters and Lampinen advanced on time to the quarterfinals of the 800 meters.

Wetzel came in fourth in his national first round heat of the 1500 meters with a time of 3:47.60. The top five finishers in each of four heats and the next four fastest times moved on to Saturday evening's quarterfinal heats, and Wetzel got off to a strong start to put himself in good position to be among the first five runners across the finish line. He was in fourth place with 800 meters to go and was in the middle of a chase pack at least seven strong after Jack Guyton of Florida raced out to a big lead early on.

There were still 10 contenders in the mix at the start of the bell lap, with Wetzel in fifth place at that point. He closed with a final lap of 58 seconds to stay among the leaders approaching the line in what turned out to easily be the quickest of the four heats. Wetzel is ranked fourth overall among the 24 qualifiers for the semifinal round after coming into the preliminary meet 33rd among the accepted entries for the meet.

Lampinen recorded a time of 1:50.11 and finished sixth in his heat of the 800 meters. He was the last of the six on-time qualifiers for the quarterfinal round, as the top three placers in each heat and the next six fastest times moved on. Lampinen came in just ahead of Myles Marshall of Harvard, who was the fourth place finisher in the third heat with a time of 1:50.14. The qualifying time of 1:50.11 put Lampinen 21st overall among the runners who will compete in tomorrow night's quarterfinal heats.

The tightly-packed group of seven runners stayed together through the first lap around the track and Lampinen was in second place after going out in 53.14 for the first 400 meters. He slipped out of the top three during the second lap but was able to maintain a fast enough pace in the cool and damp conditions to stay in contention for the quarterfinals. This is the second straight year that Lampinen has qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary. He also competed in the first round of the 800 meters as a freshman last year.

The quarterfinal heats of the men's 800 meters take place on Friday night at 6:45 p.m. The quarterfinals of the 1500 meters are on Saturday night, also at 6:45 p.m.

MEN'S 1500 METERS - NATIONAL FIRST ROUND
Top 5 each heat and next four fastest times advance to quarterfinals

Heat 1
3:50.06 - Robbie Farnham-Rose, Alabama
3:50.37 - Ryan Adams, Furman
3:50.38 - Vincent Ciattei, Virginia Tech
3:50.52 - Paul Duffey, Northeastern
3:50.73 - Amos Bartelsmeyer, Georgetown

Heat 2
3:50.83 - Rob Napolitano, Columbia
3:50.93 - Trevor Reinhart, Yale
3:50.97 - Chris Hatler, Penn (3:50.963)
3:50.97 - Diego Zarate, Virginia Tech (3:50.970)
3:51.26 - David Barney, William & Mary

Heat 3
3:46.82 - Craig Engels, Ole Miss
3:47.07 - Andrew Dusing, Miami (Ohio)
3:47.46 - Neil Gourley, Virginia Tech
3:47.60 - Logan Wetzel, Villanova
3:47.84 - Michael Hall, Florida State

Heat 4
3:50.65 - William Paulson, Princeton
3:50.69 - James Gowans, Cornell
3:50.75 - David Timlin, Indiana State
3:50.77 - Wesley Curles, Auburn
3:50.87 - James Randon, Yale

On-Time Qualifiers
3:47.86 - Parker Scott, Ole Miss (Heat 3)
3:48.75 - Jacob Dumford, Notre Dame (Heat 3)
3:49.12 - Garrett O'Toole, Princeton (Heat 3)
3:50.90 - Sam Ritz, Columbia (Heat 4)

MEN'S 800 METERS - NATIONAL FIRST ROUND
Top 3 each heat and next six fastest times advance to quarterfinals

Heat 1
1:49.29 - Joseph White, Georgetown
1:49.45 - Robert Heppenstall, Wake Forest
1:49.73 - Alek Sauer, Columbia

Heat 2
1:48.82 - John Lewis, Clemson
1:48.87 - Eliud Rutto, Middle Tennessee State
1:48.90 - Stefano Migliorati, East Carolina

Heat 3
1:49.54 - Isaiah Harris, Penn State
1:49.73 - Avery Bartlett, Georgia Tech
1:49.94 - Matthew Harding, UNC-Asheville

Heat 4
1:48.79 - Drew Piazza, Virginia Tech
1:49.03 - Ethan Homan, Boston University
1:49.09 - Domenic Perretta, Penn State

Heat 5
1:48.94 - Andres Arroyo, Florida
1:49.29 - Blair Henderson, LSU
1:49.69 - Ian Jones, Kentucky

Heat 6
1:50.46 - Brennan Munley, Michigan
1:50.61 - Ryan Manahan, Ole Miss
1:50.87 - Patrick Joseph, Virginia Tech

On-Time Qualifiers
1:49.31 - Jeramey Hampton, Georgia (Heat 4)
1:49.80 - Ryan Schnulle, Florida (Heat 4)
1:49.84 - Quamel Prince, Tennessee State (Heat 1)
1:49.98 - Terrell Jackson, Clemson (Heat 2)
1:50.10 - Otis Jones, South Carolina (Heat 5)
1:50.11 - Ville Lampinen, Villanova (Heat 4)