ADA, Ohio - Sophomore Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) went to work at the Ohio Northern Polar Bear Qualifier on Saturday, March 5, in an attempt to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Championships at Winston-Salem, NC, this coming weekend.

Gist rolled off a time of 8.36 seconds in the prelims of the 60 meter hurdles and then knocked 0.09 seconds off that outstanding effort with a school-record 8.27 seconds! He came up just 0.05 seconds shy of a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Head Coach Scott Black had this to say about Gist's work at ONU. "It was great to see Desmond end his season with another big PR, running a time that got him into the national top 30. This performance was the culmination of a lot of hard work and it will be great to build off of as we head into the outdoor season."

Assistant Coach Ben Markison added, "Desmond ran well on Saturday; in both his races he did a great job of implementing what we've been working on the past few weeks and was able to put it all together when he needed to. Unfortunately, the time wasn't where it needed to be for nationals, but he ended indoor on two PR's which is never easy to do, and its great momentum heading into the outdoor season."

Bluffton Track and Field will kick off its outdoor season with a trip to Cedarville on Saturday, March 26, after making the transition from indoor following spring break.

-BEAVERS-