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DES MOINES, Iowa—University of Southern Indiana freshman Michael Jordan finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the USA Junior Track and Field Championships Thursday.

Jordan, who finished the race in nine minutes, 10.99 seconds, was just 0.99 seconds off the a World Junior Championships qualifying time and was less than eight seconds off the winning pace.

With just over two laps to go, Jordan darted up the outside, moving from fourth to first with 800 meters remaining in the race.

The move, however, came a bit early as Dakota Peachee and Virginia Tech's Jared Berman passed Jordan at the end of the backstretch.

Jordan, who needed to finish in the top two to advance, is still eligible to compete at the World Junior Championships, but would need some runners to scratch ahead of him.

In 2010, Jordan was just 2.21 seconds shy of matching USI and GLVC Hall of Fame member Elly Rono's school-record steeplechase mark of 8:58.00. Jordan, who won the steeplechase at the GLVC Outdoor Championships to earn first-team All-GLVC accolades, was 12th at the NCAA II Outdoor Championships in the same event last month.

He will be one of five cross country runners returning from USI's top seven a year ago and will be counted on heavily to help the Screaming Eagles build on their sixth-place finish at the 2009 NCAA II Cross Country Championships this fall.