Wildcat Jake Mihelich, ’17, raced to a victory in the 400-meter dash and is now the division III national champion, and Wildcat Dallas Edge, ’17, had a top performance at nationals as well by tying her season’s best time.

The two sprint stars had superb performances while representing Linfield at the NCAA Division III 2016 Indoor Track and Field Championship on Friday and Saturday.

Mihelich and Edge each competed in preliminary races on Friday at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

Mihelich cruised to a win in his individual heat of the men’s 400m in a time of 48.73 seconds. He had the fourth fastest time of the day.

Mihelich then went on to the finals round of 400 dash where he crushed his competitors by over half a second. He ran an impressive time of 47.39. Second place was Daniel Pietsch, a sophomore from Emory University, who ran 47.97.

Mihelich now has the Bear Athletic Center meet record, which was previously set by Dan Benton in 2012 in a time of 48.01.

This is now Mihelich’s second national title. He was also the national champion in the outdoor 400m in 2015 and is hoping to achieve the same results this coming outdoor season.

With his victory in Iowa, Michelich is off to a promising start of earning a third national title.

Edge finished 11th overall out of 17 competitors in the women’s 60m hurdles in a time of 8.86. She represented the Wildcats well as this tied her season’s best time.

This was already Edge’s fourth national appearance, which gives high hopes for her to earn another ticket to the Big Dance and come home with a medal.

The Wildcats peaked for the indoor championships but will have to put in even more work to peak again for the Northwest Conference Champions on April 23 and 24 at Lewis and Clark College. They will then hopefully be qualified for the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Division III Track and Field Championships set for May 26-28 in Waverly, Iowa.