MANKATO, Minn. -- SBU's Michael Pierce has earned the honor of All-American for the second time this season. Pierce placed 5th in the mile in the finals of the Indoor National Championships with a time of 4:18.02.

SBU's men's track and field team took two athletes to nationals for the first time in school history. Pierce was ranked 5th going into the championships. The top nine runners advanced to the finals out of the fourteen qualifiers. In the finals a slow pace of 2:11 for the first half mile worked right into the hands of the top seeded runners in the finals. Pierce worked his way from ninth place to 4th place with 200 meters to go. He finished his last 800 in 2:02 which was a negative split that got him 5th place in the nation. This is Pierce's second All-American honor this year after finishing 27th at the National Cross Country Championships in Novemember. This was his first trip to an Indoor National Championships and now sets his sights on the Outdoor Championships held in Walnut, CA.

Coach McElhaney commented: "Michael has made huge strides this year in his training and his focus. His confidence has only increased now after this race. Going into the finals we thought if the race was an honest race that went out in a 2:05 or faster that would be to Michael's benefit and he might be able to be in the top three. Unfortunately, the first 800 was a 2:11 and he had to come back in a 2:02 his last half mile. He ran a very good race and is already asking me about workouts over Spring Break."

In the men's 800 meter run, sophomore Shawn Etzenhouser ran a 1:55.57 to qualify for the finals on Saturday. Etzenhouser's plan was to sit towards the back to conserve energy for his final kick. Etzenhouser's last 200 meters was 27 seconds to miss All-American honors by only .17 seconds: 1:53.87 to 1:53.70. He was .7 seconds out of 5th place. This was Etzenhouser's first trip to a national meet and looks to learn from this valuable experience.

Coach McElhaney, "Shawn needed this experience. He now should know that he can run with the best in the nation. We were hoping for top 8 but with his fastest time on a 200 meter flat track he gave it his all today. He is very excited now for outdoor as he wants to run in the 1:51's. I am very proud of him to stay focused mentally and physcially while competing against that type of competition."

Results: http://www.flashresults.com/2008_Meets/indoor/NCAADII/