BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With the top time in all of Division II in the 800-meter, senior Derek Holdsworth will now prepare to run the event on the national stage as he was accepted into the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship field in the 800. Joining him will be the members of the Wolves distance medley relay team in Justin Crosswhite, Gabe Arce-Torres and Max Carmona, as Holdsworth will anchor the relay.
Holdsworth set the top mark in the 800 back on Jan. 31 at the UW Invitational when he crossed with a time of 1:47.74. Since that time, his mark has been the top in all of Division II. The next closest has a time of 1:48.94. To put his mark into perspective, only four runners at the Division I level have a faster time than Holdsworth, with the fifth-best tying his mark at 1:47.74.
Holdsworth has helped anchor a distance medley relay team that has the 11th best time in all of Division II which sits at 9:52.02 set back at the same event in which Holdsworth set his 800 mark at the UW Invitational at the end of January. The DMR time this year ranks sixth in the WOU school record books.
In fact, WOU has the 11th and 12th fastest times in the DMR with the combo of Hunter Hutton, Arce-Torres, Crosswhite and Holdsworth sprinting to a time of 9:52.67 at last week's SPU Final Qualifier to come in 12th in all of Division II.
Crosswhite was almost a guarantee to get an entry into the mile as he currently holds the seventh fastest time in the event in all of Division II with a time of 4:04.36 that he set at the Husky Classic during the middle of February. He will though focus on helping the DMR at the national level.
This indoor season, Arce-Torres has competed in the 4x400 and 400, in addition to the DMR. His top time in the 400 came during the UW Invitational at the end of January crossing with a time of 49.48. He was also part of a 4x400 relay team that came in second at the GNAC Indoor Championships with a time of 3:17.80.
Carmona has participated in the 600, 800 and 4x400, in addition to the DMR this indoor season. He ran the 600 at the UW Preview grabbing a time of 1:22.37. His top time in the 800 came at the UW Invitational with a time of 1:54.42. Carmona also joined the 4x400 relay that came in second recently at the SPU Final Qualifier with a time of 3:17.99.
Holdsworth, Crosswhite, Arce-Torres and Carmona will now travel to Birmingham, Ala., on Mar. 13-14 to compete in the NCAA Indoor National Championships.
