HIGHLIGHT: Elliot Slade narrowly missed out on reaching NCAA Dvision 2 800m final Stateside.

REPORT: Elliot Slade was inches away from making the 800 metres final at the NCAA Division 2 indoor championships at the Cross Plex Arena in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday afternoon (12.03.2021).

Running in the second of two semi-finals the Donore Harriers athlete was always in the mix to reach the final. With the top 3 and 2 fastest losers progressing, he was in 2^nd position after lap 1 (26.98) but was relegated to 6^th after a 28.96 second circuit. Slade, although still lying-in 6^th place, remained in close contact with the leaders with a 28.68 third lap. After the bell he progressed to challenge for 2^nd but got relegated back to 6^th as the top six athletes sprinted towards the finish line. A final lap of 27.53 brought Elliot home in 1.52.15, just 3 hundredths of a second behind the two fastest qualifiers in 4^th and 5^th positions. Dennis Mbuta of Grand Valley State won the race in 1.51.90, which was marginally over 2-tenths of a second faster than 6^th placed Slade, who was representing the Academy of Art University San Francisco.

The Cardiff native was back in action less that an hour later to run in the opening leg of the Distance Medley Relay (1200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m). After a promising start, the Academy of Art University student, obviously feeling the lactic from his 800m efforts, fell back to hand over in 10^th place with a time of 3.07.03. The team came 10^th in 10.33.10. This race had a dramatic finish with 3 teams crossing the line together, with Pittsburgh State edging gold in 9.46.68 – a time slower than the 9.45.51 run by the Academy of Art in the qualifying meet at Pittsburg last month.

NCAA Division 2 Indoor Track & Field Championships at the CrossPlex Arena in Birmingham, Alabama USA (12.03.2021)

800m semi-final 2 of 2: – 6^th Elliot Slade – Academy of Art Univ. (1.52.15)

Distance Medley Relay Final: 1^st leg 1,200m Elliot Slade (3.07.03) 10^th of 10.