THE BASICS:
 
- Location: Birmingham Crossplex (Birmingham, Ala.)
 
- The Lead: The No. 1 MIT men's track and field team finished as the NCAA National Runner-Up on Saturday afternoon at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship as the Engineers ended the two-day event with a total of 34.5 points. Overall, the Engineers ended day two with four All-American honors, including a pair from graduate student Ryan Wilson (Redwood City, Calif.) in the mile and 3,000 meters.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Wilson, the D3 national record holder in the mile and 800 meters, was in full control of the mile from the outset and claimed his third career NCAA individual title as he pulled away in the final quarter and crossed in first in a time of 4:02.62 for the NCAA D3 Championship Meet record time. 
 
- Senior Kenneth Wei (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) started the day off in the 60-meter hurdle final as he finished sixth overall in a time of 8.28 seconds to earn his second All-American honor of the meet.
 
- In the shot put, sophomore Sam Engebretson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) qualified for the final with a throw of 52 feet, 7.5 inches on his second throw of the competition. He improved upon this with a toss of 52 feet, eight inches on his fifth attempt but narrowly missed out on the podium with a ninth-place overall finish.
 
- First-year Charlie Glass (Austin, Texas) finished eighth in the 800-meter final after posting a time of 1:57.11 in his first appearance at Nationals.
 
- First-year Jackson Bliey (Wilmington, Del.) earned 1.5 points after tying for seventh in the high jump with a clearance of six feet, eight inches on his second attempt at the height.
 
- The Engineers had four runners in the 3,000-meter final with Wilson, senior Sam Acquaviva (Newburyport, Mass.), senior Matthew Kearney (Austin, Texas) and senior Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.). Wilson pushed to a time of 8:05.29 to cross in third, while Kearney was just outside the top eight with a ninth-place time of 8:09.39. Acquaviva placed 12th in 8:13.49, along with Mah in 16th place in a time of 8:24.14.
 
- As MIT finished with the total of 34.5 points, Wisconsin La Crosse led the Engineers by a half point heading into the 4x400 relay as they had already secured the team title. The Eagles were disqualified in that event though, which led to the eventual 0.5-point margin of victory.
 
- MIT tied its best overall finish at the NCAA Indoor National Championship as the Engineers also finished as the National Runner-Up in the 1990 season.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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