JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Shattering his own school record, Saint Joseph's senior sprinter Alec Peabody will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminaries quarterfinals in the 400m tomorrow, May 27 at 6:15 p.m. Hosted by the University of North Florida, the meet is being held at Hodges Stadium Track and Field Facility.
Peabody flew through the 400m first round in a new program-record time of 46.35 on Thursday afternoon to place 13th in a field of the 48 top athletes east of the Mississippi River. The senior placed third in the fifth heat to turn in an automatic qualifying performance and trip to the quarterfinals. Peabody finished in the heat's top three with Florida's Najee Glass and Tennessee's Nathan Strother and edged out Pittsburgh's Chris Tate and Eastern Michigan's Tyler Brown for the third-best finish of the heat.
The senior will face the top 24 declared athletes in the event tomorrow evening; the top 12 will punch their tickets to Oregon for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Peabody had ranked 29th entering the trials and has now broken the school record three times (46.65, 46.51, 46.35) in his last four outings.
Junior hurdler Torey Doaty finished the 400m hurdles in 53.56, good for 42nd in the first-round field of 48 to complete his second consecutive season of competing in the event at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds level. Doaty will race the third leg of the 4x400m relay on Saturday, May 28 at 9:45 p.m.
