DMR, Thacker, Baker, Crow on to final
One relay and three individuals punched their ticket to the championship final on day two of the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. Milligan University’s Tim Thacker, Ethan Pfister, Austin Walker and Nathan Baker earned a spot in the final in the distance medley relay, Thacker earned a spot in the mile, and Baker and Jake Crow earned a spot in the 3k.
YANKTON, S.D. (March 4, 2021) – One relay and three individuals punched their ticket to the championship final on day two of the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. Milligan University's Tim Thacker, Ethan Pfister, Austin Walker and Nathan Baker earned a spot in the final in the distance medley relay, Thacker earned a spot in the mile, and Baker and Jake Crow earned a spot in the 3k.
Milligan's distance medley relay crew started the day with one of the fastest relays of the meet, crossing the finish line near the 10:18 mark but an error causing there to be no official time. Only two teams ran faster than 10:18, both coming from heat two.
Thacker and Baker both represented the relay team, and both turned around for individual events later in the day. Thacker later ran the second-fastest mile (4:16.43) to qualify easily for his third straight championship mile final before Baker ran the second-fastest 3k time (8:53.96) of his heat, advancing to his final.
Crow accompanied Baker in qualifying for the 3k final, running 8:53.30 out of heat two.
"This was a really positive day all around," Head Coach Chris Layne said. "I'd say we may have even exceeded expectations with getting both Nathan and Jake to the final in the 3k. There was a little drama in the men's DMR, but I felt confident we were going to be good regardless."
Eli Cramer finished an outstanding freshman indoor season in the 3k, running 9:01.47 to land 15th overall in the national championship field.
Day three of the national championships features more women's events, as Milligan will have competitors in the finals of the 3k, 5k and distance medley relay. The men return to action Saturday for all three finals. For the remaining Milligan schedule, please see below.
Friday
2:30 p.m. – Women's 3k Final
3:00 p.m. – Women's 5k Final
3:25 p.m. – Women's DMR Final
Saturday
11:30 a.m. – Men's Mile Final
2:30 p.m. – Men's 3k Final
3:25 p.m. – Men's DMR Final
(All times local/CST)