Morningside qualified for the finals in the men’s and women’s 3200-meter relay with the third fastest times in the field during the prelims at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships.

Morningside College qualified for the finals in the men’s and women’s 3200-meter relays during Thursday’s preliminary heats in the 2016 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Johnson City, Tenn.

The Mustangs had the third fastest qualifying times in both the men’s and women’s races to advance to Friday’s finals.

Morningside’s men’s 3200-meter relay team of Kyle Hiser, a junior from Shenandoah, Iowa; Jacob Willey, a senior from Onawa, Iowa; Drew Schiltz, a junior from Hinton, Iowa; and Jacob Green, a sophomore from Sioux Falls, S.D., combined for a time of 7:42.09 in the prelims to finish second in their heat and third overall behind Indiana Tech University (7:41.59) and Friends University (7:41.68).

The Mustangs had the sixth fastest time among the national qualifiers entering the meet.

The Mustangs won their heat in the women’s 3200-meter relay with a time of 9:23.40 from the quartet of Morgan Applegarth, a freshman from Lincoln, Neb.; Tori Figge, a junior from Rock Rapids, Iowa; Shelby Hall, a senior from Woodbine, Iowa; and Michelle Mumm, a sophomore from Neola, Iowa. Morningside qualified for the finals with the third fastest overall time behind St. Francis University (9:17.36) and Aquinas College (9:18.91).

Morningside came into the meet with the fourth fastest time among the national qualifiers.

The Mustangs missed qualifying for the finals in the women’s distance medley relay by just one spot when Applegarth, Eleka Joseph, a sophomore from Saint John’s, Antigua; Payton Boer, a freshman from Sioux Center, Iowa; and Tiffany Shepherd, a junior from Corning, Iowa; finished sixth in their preliminary heat and ninth overall with a time of 12:17.24 to put them behind Biola University (12:13.72) for the last spot in the finals.  

Morningside finished seventh in its heat and 22nd overall in the men’s distance medley relay prelims with a time of 10:49.88 from Jason Kenny, a sophomore from Schaller, Iowa; Schiltz, Hiser, and Alec DeVries, a sophomore from Merrill, Iowa.

Results