Merrillville High School graduate David Neville qualified for the Olympic 400-meter finals after finishing second in his semifinal heat on Tuesday at the National Stadium in Beijing.

Neville finished in 44.91 seconds, behind only France's Lesle Djhone (44.79).

Neville competed in the second of three semifinals and ran out of Lane 4. He also finished second to Djhone in his quarterfinal heat.

The finals are set for 8:20 a.m. region time on Thursday. In the finals, Neville will run in Lane 9. Americans LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner also made the finals.

The top two finishers in each semifinal heat, plus the next fastest two runners, advanced to Thursday's finals. Neville's personal-best time of 44.61 came in this summer's U.S. Olympic Trials.

For more on this story, read Wednesday's edition of The Times.