Rios Captures NAIA Weight Throw Championship; Marian Holds Lead After Day Two

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Marian men's track and field team headlined day two of the NAIA National Championships, scoring 23 team points while earning their first NAIA Championship of the week to steal the spotlight. Marian's Christian Rios, a national champion in the discus, won the weight throw national championship, while the Knights additionally earned three more All-American nods. 

Markevious Keys set the stage in the weight throw, helping his teammate Christian Rios gain confidence throughout the day as Keys qualified for the finals out of the first flight. Keys hit a top throw of 17.78m to reach the finals. In the second flight, Rios ascended into first place, taking the lead with a 19.64m throw, his best of the season at that point. Rios would add a throw of 19.58m before finals. In the finals flight, Keys recorded a mark of 18.00m, which would hold for the Knight to finish ninth overall. 

Rios' first attempt of the finals came just two throws after Trey Dickey of Doane, who surpassed the Knight by two centimeters. In response, Rios threw beyond 20 meters, hitting a distance of 20.34m. Dickey would challenge with his final throw hitting 20.08m, but it would not reach Rios' mark, as the Marian senior captured his second career NAIA National Championship. 

Owen Myers opened the day for the Knights and became Marian's first-ever All-American in the race walk, as the sophomore earned an eighth place finish in the finals to earn his first career postseason honor. Myers clocked a time of 14:06.44 as he competed in the event for the second consecutive day, initially scoring a 10th place effort before post race penalty assessment. The top-two runners in the event were eventually disqualified, giving Myers a lift to the podium. Myers scored one team point to Marian's total, one day after clocking his personal best time.

Marian's top-billed race of the day came at the end of Friday's action, as the Knights competed for the 4x800m relay championship with Andrew McDade, Mason Piatt, Benjamin Riehle, and Tristan Trevino competing on the team. The Knights busted the second-fastest time in program history, as the foursome recorded a time of 7:35.57, crossing the line in third place. After official review, Oklahoma City was disqualified from the event for a rules violation, allowing Marian to jump to second and bring home the NAIA National Runner-Up, scoring eight team points. 

In the mile race, Charles Leedke earned a qualification for the finals on Saturday, as the Knight finished third in his heat to earn an automatic bid to the All-American race. Leedke clocked a time of 4:15.35, earning him one of the 10 spots in the finals. Leedke used a long kick on the final 80 meters of his race to take third place in his heat.

The men's 600m group made noise on Friday, with Eric Materna, Olivier Lifrange, and Richard Dube storming through the preliminaries. Materna broke Marian's school in heat one, as he finished second in the section with a blazing 1:17.24 time. Materna's time is a new personal best by three seconds, and established Marian's new record. Olivier Lifrange would win the second heat, setting a PR himself with the second-fastest time in school history, qualifying with the 1:19.42 effort. In heat three, Richard Dube clocked a 1:19.88, scoring a finals qualifying time with his new personal best. The three Knights each recorded a finals qualifying time, and will take three of the final eight seeds in the All-American race on Saturday. 

Armani Glass joined the relay, Rios, and Myers on the podium, as he finished fifth in the long jump to record NAIA All-American honors. Glass hit a mark of 7.16m to make the finals, and in the finals the senior hit jumps of 7.21m and 7.31m, with the latter being his second-best indoor mark. Glass scored four team points with his distance, helping Marian capture their team score of 27 after the second day.

The 60m was one of the fastest events of the day, with Jeremiah Brown making a splash as he clocked the eighth place time of 6.76 seconds. Brown tied with Troy Mason of Rio Grande, and forced a run-off to determine who would make the finals. In the placement race, Brown smoked past Mason, clocking a time of 6.63 seconds to reach the finals. Brown's time in the placement race was the fastest of the day for any competitor. Will Osafo placed 17th in the NAIA Championships with his 6.80 second race, while Ricardo Mateo placed 21st with a time of 6.83 seconds. 

In the 800m, both Tristan Trevino and Andrew McDade were seeded in the third of three heats for the event. Trevino won his heat with a late surge pushing him to the front, as he clocked a 1:52.34 time to reach the finals. McDade recorded a 1:54.29 time, just 0.08 off a personal best. McDade finished 17th overall. 

Rounding out Marian's action was Owen Pittman, gave a strong push in the 1000m. Pittman finished third in his heat with a new personal best, but just missed out the finals by two seconds, as his time of 2:28.31 was good for 11th place. 

Entering Saturday, Marian is tied for the team score lead with 27 points. The Knights will compete in eight events on Saturday, looking to bring home the NAIA National Championship. Six of the eight events are finals, while two are open field events.

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.