ALLIANCE, Ohio - Sophomore Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) traveled to Alliance, Ohio, on Thursday, May 19, 2022, with one goal in mind when he hit the track at Mount Union. He put a time up and now its a case of hurry up and wait.

Gist found his stride and left the field in his wake, blazing his way to a school-record 14.46 in the 110-meter hurdles at the Mount Union Last Chance Meet. The work he put in throughout the season and especially the past two weeks since school has been out led to a fantastic performance that saw him take a whopping .34 seconds off his PR and .29 off Jason Shatto's school record!

When Gist's time went up on the board, his school-record vaulted him to 14th in the country with the top 20 earning a berth at the NCAA Division III Nationals next weekend. Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, is the site where the top track and field athletes in the country will convene from Thursday, May 26 through Saturday, May 28.

Coach Markison had this to say about Desmond following his record-setting performance. "I'm very proud of the progress he made this season. We took a risk after the last chance meet at Baldwin Wallace and decided to switch back to eight step which he hadn't done in over a year. It's not an easy thing to adjust to after seven-stepping all season, but he worked hard this week getting it right and it ended up paying off big time."

As of 11 p.m. Thursday night, Gist was tied for 18th in the country. Stay tuned for more info throughout the weekend as the final last chance meets wind down and the field gets set for the national championships!

-BEAVERS-