WORCESTER -- The WPI men's track and field team made its final push for NCAA Championship qualifying marks Saturday at the Tufts Last Chance National Qualifying Meet.
 
In the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Aloiye Okhipo (Milford, MA) advanced to the finals after running 8.15 in the preliminaries. He followed with an 8.21 finish in the championship race, placing first in the final.  Okhipo entered the meet tied for the final qualifying position nationally and will now await the final national list.
 
Senior Alex Cole (Weymouth, Mass.) also advanced through the preliminaries in the 60-meter dash with a 6.96 to qualify for the final. Cole went on to place fourth overall in the finals with a time of 7.01.
 
In the field events, senior Brett Gerlach (Lock Haven, Pa.) cleared 1.93 meters (6-4) to place third in the high jump competition.
 
The Engineers' distance medley relay quartet of Brinson Wyche (Corvallis, MT), Brian Stampoulos (Hillsboro, NJ), Thomas Skerry (Dedham, MA), and Everett Mosher (Chester, VT) finished 14th overall with a time of 10:06.73 in the faster of the two heats. Entering the weekend sitting on the edge of the national qualifying field, WPI needed a faster mark to solidify its NCAA position.
 
The NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship selections will be announced Sunday evening at 7pm on NCAA.com. Seniors Gavin Fleck (Bend, OR) in the pole vault (tied for 5th - 16-7.50) and Everett Mosher (Chester, VT) in the mile (13th - 4:06.36) will have spots in the field with Okhipo finding out his fate in the hurdles.

The national championship meet will be held March 13-14 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, AL.

Results