at NCAA Division III championships

Senior Ethan Freet (London) advanced to the finals in the 400-meter hurdles and helped the Bishop 1600-meter relay team advance as well during the first day of the NCAA Division III championship meet, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Thursday in LaCrosse, Wis.

Freet finished second in his heat of the 400-meter hurdles in a time of :52.46.  He has the seventh-fastest time going into Saturday's final, which is scheduled for 5:55 p.m., Eastern time.

Freet then anchored the Bishop 1600-meter relay team, passing teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wabash down the stretch for a second-place finish in the heat and a spot in Saturday's final.  The quartet of senior Silas Jolliff (Cardington/Cardington-Lincoln), freshman Adam Turner (Clyde), senior Matt Martin (New Brighton, Pa./Riverside), and Freet clocked a 3:11.83, the fourth-fastest qualifying time, and will compete at 7:30 p.m., Eastern Time, on Saturday.  The 3:11.83 broke the school record of 3:14.54 set by Sean Patrick, Martin, Jolliff, and Freet in 2011.

Sophomore Matt Hunter (Lexington, Mass.) was in fifth place after the first day of competition in the decathlon.  Hunter compiled 3519 points on the day.  His time of :10.84 in the 100-meter dash the meet's best, He also went 21-7¾ in the long jump, threw the shot 34-3, cleared 6-0 in the high jump, and clocked a :51.73 in the 400-meter dash.

NCAA championship action continues on Friday, when Hunter will conclude the decathlon, beginning with the 110-meter hurdles at 3 p.m., Eastern time, and Jolliff will compete in the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash at 8:10 p.m., Eastern time.

Thursday Results
Championships Website