In 2008, he attended the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, in hopes of qualifying in the 5k and 10k. His time of 13:56.25 in the semifinal of the 5k was enough to advance to the finals, but after holding the lead for several laps, he dropped out of the race with two laps remaining. He withdrew from the race because he was at a point that he would not be able to run the Olympic A standard if he were to continue with the race. This was done to conserve energy for the 10k. He finished seventh in the 10k final, failing to qualify for the Olympics, but besting his previous 10k personal record by less than a second with a 27:59.31.