Marion, Ind. - After the first day of competition, the Marian men's track and field team leads the Crossroads League Championships with 78 points overall. Will Osafo sets the pace for the Knights, setting a new meet record in the 60m prelims.

With Marian in the 23-point lead, Indiana Wesleyan is currently in second with 55 points, and Mount Vernon Nazarene is in third with 27 points after one day of action. Huntington is close behind in fourth with 26 points, and Taylor rounds out the top-5 with 24 points overall. Spring Arbor is in sixth, while Goshen, Grace, Bethel, and Saint Francis finish off the placements. 

The 4x800m relay kicked off action for Marian with its second-place finish to Spring Arbor. The team of Everett Carlisle, Tristan Trevino, Charles Leedke, and Mason Piatt clocked a time of 7:36.85, hitting an NAIA A Standard in the race. Spring Arbor came in first with a new meet record time of 7:36.51. In prelims action, Micah Williams, Henry Dixon, and Emory McClellan all qualified for finals tomorrow in the 60m Hurdles. McClellan is currently seeded in sixth with a time of 8.73, while Dixon is seeded fourth with a time of 8.62. Williams led the way for the Knights in prelims with his time of 8.50, earning the third seed for tomorrow's race. Rounding out prelims action, Ricardo Mateo, Jeremiah Brown, and Will Osafo all qualified for finals in the 60m. Mateo finished with a time of 6.87, seeding him in sixth tomorrow. Brown finished in second with a time of 6.717, recording an NAIA A Standard. Osafo led the way, finishing first and not only hitting an NAIA A Standard but also setting a new meet record of 6.713 in the race.

In the 600m, the Knights all finished in the top four with Rick Williams running a 1:22.22, finishing fourth. Dexter Parker finished third with a time of 1:21.37 hitting an NAIA B Standard, and Eric Materna finished in first with an NAIA A Standard and a time of 1:20.21. In the 5000m, Alex Lopez finished with a time of 16:00.63, while Marc Hernandez finished in 10th with a time of 15:44.81. Clark Chustz led the way, finishing ninth with a time of 15:42.34.

In the DMR, the Knights finished in fourth place; the team of Ben Riehle, AJ Kelly, Ben Moster, and Preston Markley clocked a time of 10:17.68. In the Heptathlon after one day of action, Michael Runions leads the way for Marian, holding onto fifth place with a score of 2422. Gus Martinez is close behind in sixth with a score of 2414, while Peyton Doty is in 11th with a score of 1812. 

In the field, Pole Vault started out the action with both Brennan La Belle and Brenden Endres coming in ninth with a mark of 4.20m. Jake Grangier led the way, finishing seventh with a mark of 4.50m. In the Weight Throw, Sam Runholt came in ninth with a mark of 14.12m. Tobu Soneye came in second with a mark of 16.15m while Markevious Keys led the way, finishing in first with a mark of 19.09m and a NAIA A Standard. The long jump closed out the day with Marian earning a clean sweep of the top three. Tevares Frierson came in third with a mark of 6.86m, while Emauri Hines finished in second with a mark of 7.12m and an NAIA B Standard. Marko Brajovic led the way, finishing in first with a mark of 7.17m and a NAIA B Standard. 

The Knights look towards claiming their seventh Indoor Crossroads League title tomorrow, with the Heptathlon starting the action at 10 am with 60m Hurdles. Track events start at 1:20 pm with the Mile, and field events start at 1 PM with the triple jump.

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