Sophomore nabs last spot in final

ALLENDALE, Mich. (May 22, 2015) – Sophomore Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) of the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team ran a 1:50.86 in the 800-meter prelims at the NCAA Championships on Friday evening at Grand Valley State University Track & Field Stadium. The time was good enough to qualify Minors for Saturday afternoon's 800-meter final.

The 800-meter preliminaries consisted of three heats and saw nine student-athletes advance to the final: the top two finishers in each heat, as well as the next three fastest times overall. The 800-meter final is scheduled for 3:55 p.m. on Saturday.

Minors' time was the slowest of all who qualified for the finals, but the nine finalists were separated by just 1.41 seconds on Friday evening. Minors ran in the third heat, and finished less than one-tenth of a second behind the heat winner, Ashland senior Drew Windle (1:50.78). Minors beat out Colorado Mines sophomore Patrick Weaver (1:50.97) by 0.11 seconds for the final qualifying spot.

Minors is one of four freshman or sophomores to advance to the 800-meter final. California State, Stanislaus sophomore Abraham Alvarado had the day's fastest time (1:49.45).

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce track and field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).