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FAIRFAX, Va. – Former George Mason standout David Verburg has anchored the United States 4x400-meter relay team into the finals.
Running the last leg, Verburg and Team USA finished second in their heat on Friday night, advancing to the finals of the 4x400 relay in the final track and field event at the Rio Olympics on Saturday. The final will be run at 9:35 p.m. (EST) on Saturday and will be aired on NBC and NBCOlympics.com.
The U.S. finished in a season-best time of 2:58.38, less than a tenth of a second behind Jamaica, which came across the line in 2:58.29. Verburg, a native of Lynchburg, Va., ran a split of 44.59.
“We made it back to the final, that was our goal," Verburg said. "It was to execute, make it to the final and we did that. We had one of the fastest, second-fastest time so we'll be in the middle of the track. We're bringing in two fresh legs again tomorrow, all four guys here executed well from first to last. Our goal was to make it through safely, get the stick around and we did that.”
The other three members of the relay for Team USA were Arman Hall, Tony McQuay and Kyle Clemons. LaShawn Merritt, who took bronze in the open 400, and Gil Roberts did not run, giving them an extra day of rest for the final on Saturday.
The U.S. will run out of lane five on Saturday night, looking for its 17th gold medal in the event. The Americans haven't won gold since 2008 though as they were edged out by the Bahamas at the 2012 Olympics in London.
This was Verburg's second events of these Olympic Games. He reached the semifinals of the 400-meter dash last week.
The 25-year-old was an 11-time NCAA All-American at Mason from 2010-13. He finished fourth in the 400 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships his junior and senior year and won seven Colonial Athletic Association championships (winning the 400 all four years). He was also a two-time CAA Male Athlete of the Year and earned CAA Rookie of the Year honors in 2010.
This isn't his first time on an international stage. Since 2013, he has competed for the United States in two International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Outdoor Championships, two IAAF World Relays Championships and a IAAF World Indoor Championship.
He has helped Team USA win gold every time for a total of five world championships. At the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Poland, he helped the U.S. set the indoor world record in the 4x400. He ran the second leg and moved Team USA into the lead and ultimately to the gold medal as they ran a world-record time of 3:02.13.
Verburg is running in his first Olympic Games after qualifying for the 400 and 4x400-meter relay by taking third in the 400 at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
