GRINNELL, IOWA - Jumbo seniors Mitchell Black and Veer Bhalla will run in the NCAA Division III Men's Track 800 meters national championship race on Saturday after qualifying out of the preliminaries on Friday.
Black was second in his heat with a 1:55.10 time to qualify fourth. Bhalla ran in a faster heat and was the fifth qualifier with a 1:54.84 time. They will compete in the men's 800 final on Saturday at 4:45 pm ET.
Black, who has qualified for every NCAA meet during his career, is the defending NCAA indoor and outdoor champion in the 800. He entered today as the top seed in the race with a 1:50.89 qualifying mark. He will be running for the ninth All-American honor of his career on Saturday.
Bhalla was the sixth seed entering today's 800 preliminaries with a 1:52.32 time. Making his third appearance at Nationals, he will be competing for his second career All-American honor.
Cyrus Mason from Wisconsin-La Crosse was the top qualifier in the 800 Friday with a 1:54.45 mark. Matt Molinaro from Ohio Northern had the second-fastest time of 1:54.58.
Jumbos also ran in a pair of straight finals on the first day of the NCAA meet today. In the 5,000 meters, junior Tim Nichols was 11th with a 14:40.81 time and classmate Luke O'Connor clocked a 14:53.53 for 14th place.
In the distance medley relay, the final men's event of the day, Tufts' foursome of freshman Colin Raposo, senior Alex Kasemir, senior Alex Apostolides, and Black were 12th with a 10:28.58 time.
The Jumbos did not score any team points on Friday.
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