Senior Dage Minors provided, by perhaps a significant margin, the seminal moment thus far in the five-year history of the Franklin Pierce University Men's Track & Field program at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, hosted by Boston University.
Minors ran the fifth-fastest 800-meter time in NCAA Division II history, qualifying himself for the NCAA Championship in the process.
Minors' second-place time -- the fastest in the country thus far this winter for Division II -- was a blistering 1:48.70, which was also, needless to say, a program record for Franklin Pierce in the 800 meters.
The mark allowed him to become the first student-athlete in school history to meet an automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships, which means his ticket is already punched to Birmingham, Ala. on March 10th - 11th.
Automatic qualifying marks are something of a rarity in general, making the moment an even bigger accomplishment for Minors. For contest, the NCAA Championships feature 17 events, and so far this season, across all 17, Minors' 800-meter run is just the 23rd performance to meet an automatic qualifying standard.
Still, Minors had more to come, as he also ran the lead leg for the 4x400-meter relay team, which turned in a 10th-place finish and another school record. Minors was joined by junior Nicholas Jacques, freshman Trevor Guay and senior Cory Cataldo to put together a time of 3:19.52, which currently ranks second in the Northeast-10 Conference on the year.
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