BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – MSU Billings men's track and field athlete
Robert Peterson finished seventh in his heat during the men's mile preliminaries at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, missing the finals by one spot Friday afternoon at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Two heats were run with eight athletes in each heat. Peterson competed in the second heat. Sixteen athletes were vying for nine individual spots in the finals to be run tomorrow.
After watching the first heat go out slow in pace, MSUB head coach
Dave Coppock advised Peterson to push the pace a little. "You know we didn't want the pace to drag in the second heat," Coppock said. "I wanted him to give it a lap and a half and push the pace, if it looked like it was going to be a slow mile. We didn't want him to get lost. He actually ended up going into the lead at the beginning. He fell into it; no one wanted to take control of the race."
Peterson led for three-quarters of the race before the pack began to make its move. "He looked pretty good out there, but at the end just didn't have the speed to finish the race on top. He's been fighting an injury and just wasn't able to accelerate fast enough when he needed too."
The junior from Billings Mont., crossed the finish line in 4:11.29. The winner of Peterson's heat, Moreu Baptiste, a senior from West Texas A&M, crossed first in 4:08.11. The first-place finisher from heat two, Chase Rathke, a sophomore from Tarleton State, finished in 4:13.11, but led the trio of finishers from heat one to qualifying spots in the finals tomorrow.
Peterson finished seventh in his heat. By virtue of the qualifying system he completed the seventh fastest time overall, but did not make the finals. Each heat sends its top three athletes and the next three fastest overall qualifying times also earn a spot. The first heat qualified its top-3 finishers. Although Peterson finished with the seventh fastest time among the 16 competitors, his heat sent the top-3 plus its next three by virtue of being the next three fastest overall finishers. Everyone in Peterson's heat finished ahead of the top finisher from the first heat.
"Every athlete in the second heat had a faster time than everyone in the first heat," Coppock said. "The first heat got the first three automatic qualifiers, so Peterson has to finish 10
th, even if he finished with the seventh fastest time overall.
Peterson qualified for the men's mile event with the sixth fastest time among participating athletes after finishing the Montana State Open on Jan. 16, in 4:07.50 (adjusted for track and altitude). This is the second national championships Peterson has qualified for this year. He was an individual qualifier from the west region in cross country, competing in the national championships last December at EP "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
"It was a great experience for us," Coach Coppock said. "We know now what it takes to compete at the national level and will continue to strive to make progress. We want to make it to the outdoor national championships too."
