ROCHESTER, NY - With the lights shining their brightest, Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) capped off his 2022-23 outdoor track and field season with a 14.41 in the 110-meter hurdles on a warm Saturday, May 27, on the campus of St. John Fisher.

Gist was competing in his third consecutive NCAA Track and Field Championship as the junior has sandwiched two straight outdoor appearances around a 60-meter qualification at the indoor nationals in March!

Head Coach Ben Markison had this to say about Gist's performance, "It goes without saying, but I'm super proud of what Des has been able to accomplish the last few seasons. He has made great progress and going into nationals this year felt much different than the last two times. He was more comfortable and confident than in the past. A lot of it had to do with where he was at in terms of his times. Last year when Des ran 14.46, that was his perfect race. When he ran his 14.33 at Baldwin Wallace, it was a great race, but nowhere near perfect which, in my opinion, meant he could beat anyone he'd be facing at nationals. Like we talked about after failing to make the indoor finals, qualifying was no longer the goal, the goal was All-American and he achieved that. I'm excited for next year and hopefully he will not be our only qualifier!"

Desmond finished 5th in the nation which makes him the 4th All-American for Bluffton and it marks the 2nd highest finish in school history for the outdoor national meet. His time was less than two-tenths of a second shy of Enoch Ellis who won with a blazing 14.22 seconds.

-BEAVERS-