Members of the Middlebury men's track and field team opened competition at the NCAA Championships on Thursday in La Crosse, Wisconsin. All four preliminary competitors and teams advanced to their respective finals.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Joey Caspar paced the third heat of the preliminary race in the 400-meter hurdles, blazing to a third-place time of 52.15 seconds and punching his ticket to the championship final. The effort erased his school record in the event.
• The 4x400 relay quartet of Wyatt Lawton, Emerson Kington, Lachlan Bishop and Caspar raced to fifth in its preliminary heat and eighth overall at 3:11.51, shaving time off the group's existing program record. The squad will race in the final on Saturday evening.
• In the 1,500, Benjamin Hughes lowered his own program mark by clocking a 3:47.84. With the effort, he nabbed 11th place and the penultimate spot in Saturday's installment.
• Owen Johnson earned a slot in the title race of the 3,000 steeplechase, claiming 11th with a personal-best time of 9:05.39.
• With five events remaining in the decathlon, Caleb Smith resides in 17th place with 3,354 points. The Panther's top finish came in the high jump as one of six athletes to tie for fifth, clearing the bar at 1.83 meters on his first attempt.
• Smith's 769 points after an effort of 11.42 seconds in the 100 were his most among the opening five disciplines. He hit the sand at 6.51m in the long jump and heaved the shot put 11.07m. Smith rounded out Thursday's action in the 400, stopping the clock at 53 seconds even to increase his total by 682.

NOTES

• Caspar lowered his prior record in the 400 hurdles from the NESCAC Championship by 0.17 seconds.
• Hughes trimmed one-tenth of a second off the school record he set at Williams' Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza (FIRE).
• The 4x400 team improved upon its program record of 3:11.79 from the FIRE meet by 0.28 seconds.
• Middlebury makes its fourth straight NCAA showing and its 21st overall.

Smith and Johnson are back in action on Friday at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. Smith concludes the decathlon with a full slate of five events, while Johnson is set to compete in the steeplechase final at 7:00 p.m. EST.