HISTORIC DAY FOR SAINTS AS BRUNO ADVANCES TO NATIONAL FINALS

LA CROSSE, Wisc. – Emmanuel College junior Nathan Bruno (Lenox, Mass.) advanced in the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships on Thursday evening, when clinched one of the top nine spots in the men's 400 meter hurdles.  Bruno will compete on Saturday, May 25^th, in the 400mH finals.  This race will mark the first time an Emmanuel College student-athlete has competed in the finals for a national championship.

Bruno entered Thursday's preliminaries ranked 4^th nationally.  He ran in the second of three heats, finishing third in his heat with a time of 52.61.  (View the video of the 400mH prelims.)  Those advancing to the finals on Saturday include the winner of each heat, as well as those with the next six fastest times.  Bruno will enter the finals seeded 8^th out of the 9 advancing runners.

Bruno's personal best in the 400mH is 51.87, set three weeks ago, when he won the Division III New England Championship.  The top eight finishers in Saturday's NCAA final will receive All-American honors.  The seeding for Saturday's 400mH final is as follows:

Seed  Name            Yr.   Institution  Time   Heat

1. Demetrius Rooks - Sr. (Rowan) 51.640   (2)

2. Tyler Mettille- So. (Mount Union) 52.090 (1)

3. David Voland - So. (Augustana) 52.250 (3)

4. Luke Campbell - Fr. (Salisbury) 52.36 (1)

5. Jabulani Blyden - Sr. (Williams) 52.40 (1)

6. Matthew Curtis - Jr. (Rutgers-Camden) 52.42 (3)

7. Ethan Freet - Sr. (Ohio Weslyan) 52.46 (2)

8. Nathan Bruno - Jr. (Emmanuel) 52.61 (2)

9. Corey Wilch - Jr. (Wis.-Oskosh) 52.90 (3)

The finals for the 400mH is slated to begin on Saturday at 5:55 PM eastern standard time. 

Watch the action on the live NCAA Broadcast or view the live results.

Good luck, Nate!!!