Jan. 14, 2012

HOUSTON, Texas -- Ryan Hall ('05) earned his trip to London and the 2012 Olympic Games after a gutsy performance at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Saturday morning. Hall finished second in 2:09 to automatically qualify for his second Olympic Team.

Hall was the agressor on Saturday, setting a early pace that dropped the pretenders from the lead pack almost immediately. Hall then kept his foot on the gas, until around 22 miles and the lead pack included just him and marathon veterans Meb Keflezghi and Abdi Abdirahman.

In the final two miles, the 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist, Keflezghi, opened up a lead on Hall, and the Stanford alum settled for second. Still, it was a great race for Hall who set a blistering pace to ensure his spot on the Olympic Team.

Fellow alum, Brett Gotcher ('07) led the chase pack, but never got close enough to the leaders to legitamately have a shot at the team. Still, Gotcher ran 2:11 to finish fifth.