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 on Saturday at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, hosted by Boston University. He ran the fifth-fastest 800m 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 800m. 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 10-11. 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’ 800m run is just the 23rd performance to meet an automatic qualifying standard.