FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.- Northern Arizona freshman Ahmed Osman ran 29:18.23 in the final of the men's 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to finish ninth in the country and earn an All-American honor. After winning the Big Sky Conference title in this event Osman came to Fayetteville as the 24th seed out of 26 runners, but cracked the top-10 on the track.

“I was surprised,” Osman said. “Going into the race ranked 24 and getting ninth, I was kind of shocked. But I'm very happy with my performance, the way I closed my season.” Of the eight men who beat Osman Thursday night, five were seniors.

The race broke out with the top-three surging out and breaking away from the gun. Liberty's Sam Chelanga, Arkansas' Shawn Forrest, and Oregon's Galen Rupp ran their own race, building a 200 meter lead by the halfway point, and finishing over 30 seconds ahead of the crowd. Rupp won the race in 28:21.45, followed by Forrest and Chelanga.

“Going into the race I wasn't thinking about Chelanga, Rupp, or Forrest. I was just kind of focused on the second pack and just working from there,” said Osman.

Osman stayed in the chase pack for all 25 laps, with their 70 second splits. “That's what I wanted,” he said about the pace. “About 68 or 70, right there. That was the goal going into the race.”

“Ahmed just put himself in position to where when the break happened, he was going to be in that front pack of 10 guys,” said Coach Eric Heins. “He kept his eyes on that position the whole race. He wasn't going back and forth. He was maybe 14th to eighth, but he was always in position to be top-10.”

He closed with 67.45 and 67.60 second final laps to beat five men who were less than five seconds behind him.

Friday night will conclude the Lumberjacks' appearance at the 2009 National Championships when David McNeill runs in the finals of the men's 5000 meters. The NAU junior had the fastest time in Wednesday's qualifying rounds. The 10,000 meter champion, Rupp, will be amongst McNeill's challengers when the gun goes off at 8:40 p.m. CT.

Complete coverage of the Championships is available online by clicking here. Friday's action will be televised on CBS College Sports (DirecTV channel 613) beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT.