UAlbany's Tyler Fogarty Fourth in 800-Meters at USA Junior Track & Field Championships

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Columbus, Ohio – University at Albany’s Tyler Fogarty placed fourth in the 800-meter run final at the 2008 USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, June 21 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, on the Ohio State University campus. The junior national competition, with athletes ranging from 14 to 19 years-old, is the qualifying meet for the World Junior Championships in Poland on July 8-13.

Fogarty, a 19-year-old who just completed his freshman year as a collegian, came off the pace with 200 meters left to finish behind champion Elijah Greer, a junior from Lake Oswego High School in Oregon. Fogarty, who earned junior All-America status, recorded a personal-best time for the second straight day by crossing the tape in 1:48.83 after the race was delayed nearly two hours due to a thunderstorm. Gered Burns is the lone Great Dane to have a better time at 800-meters when he went 1:48.20 in 2007.

Greer, who won the Oregon state scholastic championship three weeks ago with a record performance, posted a winning time of 1:47.68 and was 14-hundredths of a second off the USA Junior meet standard. Zachary Mellon, the Minnesota state high school winner, was second in 1:48.64, and will join Greer on the U.S. squad at the World Junior Championships. Donte Holmes, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion from Delaware State, took third in 1:48.83.
“I was sitting back in sixth at 600 meters and started to make my move,” said Fogarty, who ran the second-fastest time in Friday’s preliminary round when he was clocked in 1:50.72. “I tried to go with (Elijah) Greer and got caught up in traffic when they went four-wide in the turn. I am still satisfied with my performance and happy that I was able to shave nearly three seconds off my personal-best.”

A native of Clifton Park, N.Y., Fogarty anchored Shenendehowa High to last year’s state championship in the 4x400-meter relay when that group registered the third-best mark (3:18.50) in Section II history. In his first year with the UAlbany program, Fogarty was second in the 800-meter run at both the America East Conference indoor and outdoor championships.

Fogarty becomes the seventh UAlbany athlete to earn junior All-America recognition over the past five years. Joe Greene (400-meter hurdles) and John Moore (800m) placed second in their events at USA Juniors in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

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2008 USA Junior OutdoorTrack & Field Championships

Men’s 800-Meter Run Final

1. Elijah Greer (Lake Oswego H.S., Ore.), 1:47.68, 2. Zachary Mellon (Buffalo H.S., Minn.), 1:48.64, 3. Donte Holmes (Delaware State), 1:48.66, 4. Tyler Fogarty (UAlbany), 1:48.83, 5. Dylan Ferris (East Forsyth H.S., N.C.), 1:49.49, 6. Blake Shaw (Cypress Falls H.S., Texas), 1:50.32, 7. Chris Bilbrew (Arkansas), 1:51.19, 8. Jeff Moriarty (Columbia), 1:52.22, 9. Russell Dinkins (Wilbraham & Monson Academy, Mass.), 2:01.39.