No one was better than Bronson Duran Jr. for 400 meters.

Unfortunately, he had 400 more to go.

Duran, a senior-to-be at Albuquerque Sandia Preparatory, led his heat after one lap of an 800 meters semifinal at the World Youth Track and Field Championships in Sudtirol, Italy on Thursday.

He could not keep pace with the world's best teenage runners and faded to sixth in the second of three heats with a time of 1 minute, 53.59 seconds.

The top-two finishers of each heat plus the two fastest non-qualifiers advanced to the finals on Saturday.

Duran, the son of St. Michael's graduates Margaret and Bronson Duran Sr., ran almost 21/2 seconds behind the slowest qualifier, Sweden's Johan Rogestedt (1:51.11).

The meet began with promise for Duran, as he was one of 24 runners — and the only American — who reached the semifinals after finishing second in his preliminary heat Wednesday.

A week earlier, Duran finished second in the World Youth Track and Field Trials at Ypsilanti, Mich., to earn a spot on the U.S. team.

He had qualified for the event during the prep season when he recorded a time of 1:52.61 at the Metro Championships on May 1.

Duran also won the 400 and 800 titles in the Class AAA state championships.