ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Missouri Baptist's 4x100m relay team beat the qualifying standard of 48:33 to advance to the NAIA National Championships in May.

Missouri Baptist's relay team consisted of , who all ran a sound race at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Gateway Invitational over the weekend. The relay team finished with a time of 48:24, just tenths of a second behind Western Illinois University and SIU Edwardsville. 

As a whole, the team competed against several NCAA Division I teams and showed that MBU can compete right up against larger programs that are better funded and more recognizable at the national level.

In other meet results, Alex Weathersby was just seconds off the national qualifier pace in the 800m run, finishing fifth with a time of 2:19:55. Quintell Payne and Ariana Dotson also finished third and fourth in the 200m dash.

On the guys side, Durron Watson led the charge and finished fifth in the 100m dash with a time of 11:57. In the field events, Jared Carron was fantastic in the pole vault, taking home third place. Kyle Eaves also had a big day. The freshman placed in the javelin throw with a distance of 44.20 meters. MBU's Brandon Haupt came in third with a distance of 32 meters flat.

The Spartans will next head to the Billy Hayes Invitational next weekend.