Peter Hansen of the Middlebury men's track and field team placed fourth during the preliminaries in a field of 20 in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday. 
 
He clocked in with a personal best time of 52.36, shaving 0.40 seconds off of his previous record to place second in his heat. The first-place finisher of each heat advances to the finals, along with the next six best times. 
 
Hansen will compete for a national title in the final on Saturday at 2:25 p.m. The entire championship event is taking place at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.