EUGENE, Ore.—A strong finish in the final 50 meters gave Sean Dolan (Pennington, N.J.) a legitimate chance at advancing to the final of the men's 800 meters before he eventually placed fifth in his heat and 11^th overall in the semifinal round at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field on Saturday night. Dolan wrapped up an incredible year of competition with his first career appearance at the Olympic Trials and had been an automatic qualifier coming out of the first round heats on Friday evening. He was one of five collegians in the field of 16 competitors in Saturday's semifinals.
 
Dolan crossed the finish line in 1:47.16 in the first of two heats, with the top three finishers in each heat and the next two fastest times advancing to the final on Monday evening. Each of the two on-time qualifiers wound up coming from the second heat, although Dolan was less than two-tenths of a second out of a top-three finishing spot in his race. The first semifinal heat that he competed in featured three of the top four qualifiers from the first round.
 
The final lap of the race showed what Dolan is capable of when competing at an elite level. He was at the back of the pack at the bell, with official splits showing him to be nearly nine-tenths of a second off the third-place runner with 400 meters to go. Dolan had a spit of 53.38 for his final lap; only the winner of the heat – professional runner Clayton Murphy who has run the Olympic standard of 1:45.20 this season – ran a faster final lap.
 
Murphy won the heat in 1:46.26 and was followed across the finish line by Donovan Brazier in 1:46.57 and Brannon Kidder in 1:46.97. Jonah Koech (1:47.03) was also just in front of Dolan, who had to move to the outside as he come through the final turn but nevertheless steadily made up ground on the leaders in front of him as he approached the finish line. The two on-time qualifiers in the second heat posted times of 1:46.21 and 1:46.39, respectively.
 
Over the past five months Dolan has notched the first two sub-four minute miles of his career; earned his first career All-America honor during the indoor track & field season; won his first career BIG EAST title in the 800 meters outdoors; recorded lifetime best times in the 800 meters (1:46.41), the 1000 meters (2:24.40), the 1500 meters (3:38.60) and the Mile (3:57.20); and qualified for his first Olympic Trials. He did that all as a redshirt freshman after competing unattached during the 2019 cross country season and then not racing for more than 15 months before opening the 2021 indoor season in early February.
 
Dolan and 2014 alum Sam Ellison represented Villanova in the men's 800 meters at the Olympic Trials, while the Wildcats are represented on the women's side by high jumper Sanaä Barnes (Keller, Texas), steeplechaser Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.), 800 meter runner McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) and alum Angel Piccirillo.
 
Action continues for Villanova on Sunday night when Barnes competes in the final round of the high jump and Olivere runs in the first round of the 3000 meter steeplechase.