ALLENDALE, Mich. --- The Mississippi College men's 4x400 relay team finished the 2021-22 athletic campaign with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships in Allendale, Mich., on Saturday, May 28.
 
The foursome of Gabe Hodson Will Grames, Jake Russell and Wesley Gibbs turned in a time of 3:09.69 – the second-fastest time this season for the relay unit this season. The program record, which was set on April 28 at the Mike McMillan Twilight, stands at 3:08.33. The quartet also grabbed NCAA Division II First Team All-American laurels.
 
The mark bests the previous mark held by a Gulf South Conference program as Lee University set a time of 3:09.71 in 2019. The time also bested the mark turned in last season at the NCAA National Championships (3:11.77) on the GVSU campus.
 
After sitting in fifth-place after the first 800 meters with a time of 47.56, the Choctaws moved into fourth after the 1,200 meters as it clocked a time of 47.22. The Navy and Gold slipped back to seventh in the next 800 meters where it finished the event.
 
MC posted a time of 3:12.12 to finish fourth in the second heat of the event preliminaries on Friday, May 27 to advance to the event finals.
 
Lincoln (Mo.) University took the top spot in event with a time of 3:05.88. Pittsburg State University, who won the overall team national title, finished second in the event with a time of 3:06.31. West Texas A&M University took third in event (3:06.52), en-route to a national title runner-up finish.