RESULTS

GENEVA, Ohio (csssaints.com) – St. Scholastica sophomore Ryan Steger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) used a strong 100m dash in Friday's preliminaries to qualify for Saturday's 800m Final at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute.
 
How It Happened
Steger was in the second of three preliminary heats on Friday. In his heat was Tucker Cargile from the University of Redlands (Calif.), who entered with the nation's best time in the 800 meters.
 
For about 700m of the race, Steger was anywhere from fourth thru sixth place in the seven-runner heat. Then as the competitors made the final turn, Steger jumped to the outside to about lanes three and four to make his move. As he closed to the finish line he sprinted past three runners take second place overall with a time of 1:51.84.
 
Although that ended his streak of setting 800m program records, the second-place finish in his heat automatically qualifies him for Saturday's final. After the three heats concluded, Steger's time was the fifth-best among the 20 racers.
 
Of the nine runners to move onto Saturday's final, Steger had the slowest first 400 meters at 56.44. However, he had the fastest final 400-meter time out of all 20 competitors at 55.40.
 
Grant Marton of Carroll University (Wis.) was the individual that beat out Steger in his heat with a time of 1:51.65, which was the second fastest in the field. Kyler Lueck of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire recorded the best prelim time at 1:51.16.
 
Up Next
Steger will compete for the 800m National Title on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET). The top eight finishers in that race will earn All-America accolades. Catch the action at https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2019/05/25.