UNIVERSITY, Miss.—Junior distance runner Casey Comber (Maple Glen, Pa.) got his outdoor season off to a strong start when he recorded a personal best time in the 1500 meters at the Joe Walker Invitational on Friday evening.  Comber competed against several athletes who were running on their home track at the Ole Miss Track & Field Complex, as well as runners from a number of other schools in the East region. 
 
The fastest section of the 1500 meters got underway just after 7:30 p.m. and Comber came in third in his race with a time of 3:42.54.  He easily bested his previous top time of 3:45.81 which had been set in a meet at Princeton last year.  Comber put himself into position to compete in the 1500 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary meet in Jacksonville next month. 
 
Each of the first three runners across the finish line in Friday's race posted faster times than the leading marks in the East region entering the weekend.  Comber competed at the meet last year as a sophomore when he raced in the national semifinal heats of the 5000 meters. 
 
During the indoor track & field season earlier this year, Comber tallied a runner-up finish in the Mile at the NCAA Championships to earn first team All-America honors.  His second place finish was the Wildcats best in the Mile since 1979, and the highest national finish for Villanova in any indoor event in 16 years.  Comber also recorded the first sub-four minute mile of his career during the indoor campaign when he posted a time of 3:57.80 on February 9 at the David Hemery Valentine Invite in Boston.