HOME OF BULLDOG TRACK & FIELD - Three Individual NCAA Champions in 2008

Bulldog Track & Field’s Baechle Narrowly Misses Finals in 800m Run, Finishes Ninth

Junior Jake Baechle (Aurora, OH) of the University of Redlands track & field team fell just short of qualifying for Saturday’s final in the men’s 800m Run, clocking a ninth-place 1:51.38 at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Marietta, OH, on Friday.

He fell .10 seconds shy of his personal best in the event (1:51.28), which he registered at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational earlier this season.

Baechle, despite running a faster time than both of the second heat’s top runners, settled for ninth based on the selection process for finals. The top two runners in each of the three heats are granted an automatic spot in the event’s final, and the next two fastest times outside of that gain at-large access to the final heat. The 800m Run final consists of eight runners, all of whom will vie for the national title at 2:50 p.m. EDT (11:50 a.m. PDT) on Saturday.

This Aurora, OH, native, competing in his home state for the first time as a Bulldog, is a two-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion in the 800m Run. It also marks his second appearance at the NCAA Championships in as many years.

The defending champion in the event, Whitworth University’s (WA) Emmanuel Bofa, owns the top-qualifying time heading into tomorrow’s finals. Jimmy O’Brien of Ohio Northern University, Brian Sames of the University of St. Thomas (MN), Wes Fischer of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Nick Zeien of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Patrick Roach of Messiah College (PA), Adam Lang of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Brian Leiter of Frostburg State University (MD) spell out the rest of the qualifiers for Saturday’s final in the 800m Run.

Hosted by Marietta College (OH), the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships take place from Thursday through Saturday at Don Drumm Stadium. Sophomore Mackenzie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) garnered All-America honors on Thursday with a third-place mark in the Javelin Throw.