ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Fresno Pacific track & field team competed in day one of the NCAA DII National Championships on Thursday, starting with the first half of the men's decathlon as well as the prelims in the women's 4x100 relay, 400-meter dash and 100-meter dash.
 
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"The highs and the lows of this sport are just so extreme. Definitely a merciless game. Incredibly proud of our three 400-meter women— Danae Manibog Gatewood, Madison Flores, and Chloe Sharp, for all making the final. To have three of the top nine women in the nation in a marquis event is truly special, but I know they are not satisfied with simply making the race. They have big plans in that performance on Saturday. Unfortunately, Kyla Richardson had a small strain at the end of the 100-meter dash and was not able to qualify in that final, but we will continue to stay hopeful and are just so grateful for her and proud of her for the way she has led the squad all season. There are still a lot of unknowns and it's a three-day meet, so we will continue to be optimistic and will put everything out there that we can. On the men's side, Brett Lombardi had a solid first day and is not far behind his personal-best score for day one in the decathlon. He is a day-two performer with many of his strengths awaiting us tomorrow, so we are excited to see him chase everybody in front of him on the scorecard. We are also looking forward to seeing Xiamara Young compete in triple jump for the women tomorrow, as well as a trio of ladies in the 200 meter, and the women's 4 x 400-meter relay prelims."
 
TEAM FINISHERS

• The women's 4x100 team of Manibog Gatewood, Richardson, Sharp and Flores finished third overall in the prelims and second in their heat after a time of 45.21 and will compete for the final on Saturday.
• Manibog was able to win her heat in the 400 – third overall – after a 54.04. Flores finished just behind her with a 54.27 in the same heat and qualified sixth overall. Sharp was able to snag the last spot in Saturday's final after running a 54.43.
• Lombardi finished day one of the decathlon with 3.424 points. He will finish off the event of Friday with the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500-meter dash.

 
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The team will have another full day on Friday with the completion of the decathlon, the women's triple jump, women's 200-meter prelims and women's 4x400-meter prelims.
 
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