Asheville, North Carolina – For the second time this year, McPherson’s Brian Fackert and Lamar Gordon will represent the Bulldogs in the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, this time making the trip out east to the Tar Heel State.
California native, Brian Fackert, will compete in the 1500m tomorrow at 4:10 PM ET for a chance to race in the finals on Friday. Fackert ran his qualifying time at the KCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships down in Wichita where he ran a 3:51.91, claiming first for the Bulldogs in the event.
Fackert also finished first in the 800m event at the Championships with a time of 1:55.86, just four seconds off a “B” National Standard time.
In the 20-athlete field, the fastest qualifier in the 1500m this season came from Tristan Trevino of Marian (Ind.) with a 3:43.49; the next closest qualifying time was Cody Hammond’s 3:46.59 of Park (Mo.).
Despite qualifying for three separate events, Lamar Gordon will compete in the Discus and Shot Put events this week. Gordon holds the sixth qualifying spot in both events heading into the week, giving him a great chance to contend for both titles. He would toss his season-best Shot Put (16.89m) and Discus (52.58m) throws at the KCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships where he claimed first in both events.
The Shot Put qualifying field is led by Darius Barge of Life (Ga.) who threw a season-best 17.90m to place him at the top of the field heading into the week. Cornerstone’s Stuart Stovall leads in the Discus event with a throw of 56.18m this season; Gordon’s best throws this season are within reaching distance of both of these athletes. He’ll throw in the Shot Put event first on Thursday at 1:00 PM ET followed by the Discus throw on Friday at 9:00 AM ET.
This year’s NAIA National Championships will be hosted by the University of North Carolina – Asheville at the Karl Straus Track. Events will be streamed on the Urban Edge Network.
