Brookings, S.D. – The Marian men's track and field team opened the 2023 NAIA National Championships off on Thursday evening by competing in three relay races, getting big performances from the 4x400m and 4x800m relay team as they qualified for the NAIA Championship races.

Marian's 4x800m relay began the day with a bang, as the Knights group of Robin Aguilar-Gonzalez, Howard Hendricks, Owen Pittman, and Drew Thornton qualified for the NAIA Finals. Marian's team turned in the fourth best qualifying time of 7:39.16, making the finals and setting a new school record.

In the 4x400m relay, Marian's group of Matthew Riehle, Olivier Lifrange, Eli Givens, and Maksims Sincukovs placed eighth in the prelims after finishing in 3:14.60. The time set a new school record and was good enough to put them into the finals on Saturday.

The Knights' final relay team of the day was the DMR, with Joe Barrett, Robin Aguilar-Gonzalez, Howard Hendricks, and Eli Givens finished 18th in the field, posting a time of 10:14.46.

Marian will begin day two of the championship with the men's weight throw at 1 p.m. ET, with the action on the track starting around 2:25 p.m. ET. The 4x800m relay will run for an
NAIA National Championship at 6:35 p.m. ET.

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