BROOKINGS, SD –  While Thursday's opening night action at the NAIA Indoor National Championships didn't go quite as planned, the women's distance medley relay team provided at least one highlight, cruising to a spot in the finals with a second place heat finish.  

The squad of Krista Boese (1200), Olaide Olapade (400), McKenna Palmer (800), and Lisa Voyles (1600) turned in a controlled effort to earn an AQ into Saturday's final.  Their time of 11:58.58 was the #3 mark on Thursday and is just the 6th sub-12:00 time in school history.  Boese and Voyles have been a member of each of those relays.

The women's 4x400 team came into Thursday ranked #1 in the nation with a best of 3:44.75, but a subpar performance of 3:53.28 saw them finish 10th in qualifying, missing out on a spot in the finals.  Likewise, the #1 ranked men's 4x400 team missed out on a spot on the finals, running more than three seconds over their season-best, finishing 9th in prelims.

While the relay misfortunes will make the going a bit tougher, both teams remain in contention for a team title heading in to a crucial Friday of action.  

Korissa VanOver will get the day started in the 3000m racewalk at 10:05 am local time, 11:05 in Fort Wayne.