MARION, Ind. -- The Houghton Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field teams finished out their season strong on the second day of the NCCAA National Championship, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University.

Despite being an NCAA DIII school in a field of mostly NAIA and NCAA DII schools, the men finished 19th and the women finished 12th.

After just missing a school record and an All-American finish in the Distance Medley Relay last night, the foursome of Joanna Friesen, Rebekah White, Kate Taggart, and Nikki Garns would not be denied today, teaming up again to finish 2nd in the 4x800m relay with a time of 9:27.85. Their performance smashed the former school record, set back in 2009, by over six seconds and earned them NCCAA All-American honors.

"The women's 4x800m relay definitely ran with a chip on their shoulder after three 4th place finishes at the last three NCCAA Championships," Head Coach Patrick Hager said. "Every leg was strong, and Kate Taggart ran out of her mind."

Cory McCarty ran a season best of 1:58.53 in the 800m, which earned him 8th place and the men's team's only point of the meet.

"Cory has come a long way this season, and he's starting to get more confident. Today, he certainly ran with a higher sense of purpose, and it paid off," Coach Hager remarked. "We are expecting him to get back to 1:54 shape outdoors."

Malik Bullock finished 10th in the triple jump (12.24 meters).

Nikki Fink jumped 1.47 meters to finish 16th in the high jump.

With the indoor portion of their schedule complete, the track & field teams will have a six week break to focus on recovery and training before beginning their outdoor season on April 2nd at the Alfred State Invitational, hosted by Alfred State.