GREENSBORO, N.C. – Andrey Dmitriev finished fourth in his heat of the 1,500-meters, timing in at 3:48.28 to earn one of the automatic qualifying spots to Saturday's quarterfinals as he competed at the NCAA East Preliminary Round Thursday in Greensboro, N.C. With the result, Dmitriev earns the right to run for a trip to the NCAA National Championships, held in Eugene, Ore. in early June, in Saturday's quarterfinal round.

The redshirt junior started patiently, running toward the back of the pack for the first 300 meters, but made his move shortly after reaching the finish line for the first time. A 47.59 split for the first 300 meters turned into a 1:51.13 time for the opening 700, as Dmitriev ran the field's fastest circuit on the first full lap of the race. That moved him into third place, just behind Rich Peters of Boston University and Sam McEntee of Villanova. Dmitriev remained in the top four runners and was battling with Josh McAlary of Michigan State as the field came to the bell lap.

The 12 runners stayed tightly bunched until the 200-meter mark, when several runners went into a kick to try to move up. Dmitriev wound up in the middle of a three-runner group and appeared to slow up slightly, perhaps due to a slight collision. That dropped him back multiple positions with 150-meters left, but he was able to make up the distance with a furious kick that allowed him to edge Tyler Corkedale of Penn State and Mark Feigen of Columbia for the fourth position.

“Andrey ran a very smart race today,” said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. “I look forward to seeing him run Saturday with a berth in Oregon on the line.”

Dmitriev will return to action Saturday, as he takes part in the quarterfinals at 6:45 p.m. inside North Carolina A&T's Aggie Stadium. The top five from each of the two races, as well as the two next fastest times, will advance to the National Championships.