BROOKINGS, S.D. – Needing to finish in at least second place of his heat or have a top two final time of the remaining finishers, Corban University Men's Indoor Track & Field freshman student-athlete Braydon Lee clinched a spot in the national finals for the 800m race, placing second overall in his preliminary heat to earn one of eight finalist spots today at the 2024 NAIA National Championships.
To see the up-to-date Corban results from the national championships, click HERE.
"Another historic day in Corban track and field history with Braydon reaching the 800m final," began Warriors' head coach Todd Bos. "If he is able to finish his race tomorrow, he will be the first indoor All-American in both program and school history. Zander ran well in the mile, but with his heat going out too slow, it was too much of a gap to overcome in order for him to get into the finals. We are also excited to watch Kayla high jump tomorrow, as she is more than capable of earning All-American status on her own with some good jumping. We are thankful for God's blessings."
Lee entered the field with the 18th out of twenty registered runners in the men's 800m race, facing an uphill challenge as he needed to move up the leader board at least ten placements if he wanted to snag one of the coveted lanes in the finals race tomorrow afternoon. With 200m to go in his heat, Lee made a strong move to pass all but one runner and finish in second overall at 1:55.04 to best his personal record by nearly a full second, which guaranteed him a spot in the finals. So long as he finishes the race tomorrow, he will become the first indoor track & field All-American in Corban history, with a chance to also become the first ever indoor national champion.
Sophomore Zander Moha was also looking to move up the leaderboards in the men's mile run earlier today but fell victim to an extremely slow pace set by his heat that resulted in underperformances for every runner in the grouping. Moha concluded the race in eighth overall, resulting in a 17th place finish in the national championship preliminaries out of 22 racers and a 4:26.84 final time.
Tomorrow at 12:15pm PT, Lee will hit the tracks and compete for a national title in lane seven as one of two freshmen in the entire heat, while redshirt sophomore Kayla Morgan will compete for her own championships at 11:30am PT in the women's high jump.
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