SAINT LEO, Fla. – Sophomore Shane Bracken of the Saint Leo men's track team ran a strategic preliminary race Thursday night on the opening day of the 2019 NCAA Division II Track & Field Championship. Knowing he had to finish in the top four of his heat to advance to the final, Bracken did just that taking fourth in the opening heat.
 
Bracken led the race with one lap to go and knew all he needed to do was not allow four runners to pass him over the final 400m to advance to Saturday evening's final. Bracken crossed the line in 4:02.82 to finish just under half a second ahead of the fifth place finisher from Edinboro.
 
Bracken will enter the finals with the 12^th fastest preliminary time as Daniel Wallis of Queens posted the top time of the day at 3:55.16. The top eight qualifiers came from the second preliminary heat in which Bracken did not compete.   
 
Bracken will compete for the NCAA Championship in the 1,500m Saturday night at 6:45 p.m. (EST). For live results visit SaintLeoLions.com while some portions of the Championships will be broadcast live on NCAA.com. 
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo track team be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.