College: University of Virginia; University of Oregon
Event: 3k Steeplechase- 8:36.98
Coach: Mark Rowland
College: Finley joined the University of Oregon Ducks for his fifth year of outdoor track eligibility in the spring of 2011. That year he won the PAC-10 Steeplechase title. At the NCAA Championships he qualified for the finals and was awarded Second-team All-American status for his 13th place effort. He went on to qualify and place 13th in the finals at the USA Championships that year as well.
Prior to Oregon, Finley spent four years representing the Cavaliers at the University of Virginia. There he placed 11th at the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 Steeplechase to earn 2010 All-American Honors. He was a member of the Championship of America 4x800m at the Penn Relays in 2010 and a two-time ACC Steeplechase runner up.
Personal: Finley majored in History as an undergraduate at UVA and is now working on his masters in Education at the University of Oregon. Parents Mary and Doug Finley live in Allentown, PA where his mother just retired from Kraft Foods after 27 years and his father is the head track coach at Allen High School. He has one older sister, Laura, who lives in Manhattan, NY.
High School: Finley graduated from Palatine High School in Illinois during the spring of 2006. Earlier that fall, he was the 2005 Illinois Cross Country State Champion as well as a High School Footlocker Cross Country Finalist. He was a three-time team MVP in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track during his prep campaign.
PERSONAL BESTS- Outdoor
3,000m Steeplechase- 8:36.98- Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational- May 1, 2011