Brookings, S.D. - The Marian men's track and field started the 2024 NAIA Track and Field National Championships with a bang, qualifying each of their three relays to the finals later in the week. The Knights' 4x400m relay squad had the strongest day of the group in program history, setting a new Marian record.
The Knights day started with the 4x800m relay team, as the group of
Benjamin Moster,
Andrew McDade,
Howard Hendricks, and
Matthew Riehle qualified for the finals with the eighth-best time of 7:42.17. Marian finished third overall in their heat behind Lewis-Clark State and Kansas Wesleyan, as the group held either second or third place throughout the relay.
In the 4x400m relay, Marian showed their fastest time in program history, as
Eli Givens,
Olivier Lifrange,
Richard Dube, and
Raif Miller recorded a school-record 3:14.16 time in their prelim race. The group clocked the third-fastest time in their heat as St. Thomas (Fla.), and Xavier (La.) placed under one second in front of Marian's team. The group broke their mark set during the Crossroads League Championships by 0.56 seconds, and set the school record by 0.46 seconds, breaking the record set at last year's NAIA Championships.
The Knights finished their opening day with the DMR, as the team of
Robin Aguilar-Gonzalez,
Eric Materna,
Owen Pittman, and
Tristan Trevino burned a 10:04.10 time. Marian is slotted sixth entering the finals on Saturday, as their time was an automatic qualifier by finishing second behind The Master's in their heat. Marian will be joined in the finals by fellow Crossroads League schools Spring Arbor and Goshen. The group's time is the second-fastest in program history.
Marian will run in their 3200m relay tomorrow night as they look to score points for the team total. Other events Marian will compete in on Friday include the weight throw, and long jump in field events, while on the track Marian will compete in the 600m, 400m, 200m, 60m, 1000m, and the race walk.Â
The first event of the day will be the race walk at 12:30 p.m. ET. Marian will run the finals for the DMR and 4x400m relay to end the week on Saturday.
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