PITTSBURG, Kan. – MSU Denver's Nick Nowlen the second-best raw time in the 800 meters of his career, but just missed out on a trip to the finals at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships.
 
Running in the first of three preliminary heats, Nowlen finished fourth in 1 minute, 52.18 seconds. The top two finishers in each heat, plus the next two fastest times, advanced to Saturday's final. Nowlen's time was 13^th among the 16 national qualifiers.
 
He would have needed a 1:51.48, which is .02 slower than his career best, to reach the final.

"We are very proud of Nick's effort," MSU Denver coach Janis Christopher said. :With the exception of the RMAC Championships, he was not in too many tactical races this year. When you race at the NCAA Championships, all the racing is tactical. It takes some practice to know when to make moves and where to position yourself within the field.

"All we can do is learn from the experience and make adjustments that can be used to improve moving forward."
  
Nowlen, running in his second indoor national meet, posted the eighth-best time ever run by an MSU Denver athlete in the event. Only national champion Anthony Luna, All-American Shawn Lindbom and Nowlen himself have run faster for the Roadrunners.