PARIS – After placing third at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships, Jorge Torres will toe the line Sunday in the final of the men’s 5,000 meters at the 2003 World Outdoor Championships following a gutsy performance in the qualifying round on Wednesday.

Although relatively inexperienced on the international scene, Torres enjoyed a successful senior season at the University of Colorado, where he won the 2002 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. Torres faced a strong challenge from the University of Arkansas’ Alistair Cragg, before finally emerging as the victor in the final seconds. Torres’ victory made him just the third American in the last 15 years to win the men’s NCAA Cross Country title.

Torres, who completed his final collegiate season undefeated, led the Colorado men to a tenth place finish at Terre Haute, as his twin brother Eduardo added to the Buffalo’s point total with his tenth place individual finish.

On the track, Torres specializes in the 5,000 meters where he ran the second fastest time by and American in 2002 (13:26.0). His 13:24.56 earlier this season at Stanford leads the 2003 U.S. outdoor list. He was the 2002 NCAA outdoor runner-up in the 5000 meters (13:59.88) and ended that season ranked #3 in the U.S. at that event.

Torres arrived in Paris for the World Championships with the sole purpose of making the men’s 5000 meter final. With his ninth place finish in the qualifying round on Wednesday, he accomplished his goal, saying afterward, “I went out there and said ‘this is my final, I’m going out there and trying to qualify for the final round just so I can get the experience.’ If I got to the final round then it was going to be a plus to my career here. I’ve got to take some steps, some small steps and this is one big step moving into the final.”

In addition to his successful collegiate career, Torres, a member of the 1999 U.S. World Cross Country Championships junior team, was a superb high school performer, who won his third Illinois Class AA state cross country title in 1998 at Peoria, Illinois’ Detweiller Park in the fastest state meet performance on that course since 1977. Torres later went on to win the 1998 FootLocker National Cross Country Championship less than a month later in Orlando, Florida.

Although Torres has grown as a runner tremendously in just a short while, watch for the talented youngster from Boulder, Colo., to add to that growth Sunday in the men’s 5,000 meters in Paris.