Muhlenberg junior Christopher Short qualified to compete in the 400 meters at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, scheduled for this Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham (Ala.) CrossPlex. 

Short posted the 20th-fastest time in Division III this season, running the 400 in 47.97 at the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Championships this weekend. That clocking ranks 16th among the 20 athletes who were selected for the national meet.

The bid to nationals caps an incredible indoor season for Short, who helped set five school records and came close to a sixth. In the 400, the school record at the start of the season was 48.67, and Short's indoor career best was 49.59. In his last three meets, Short broke the school record with a 47.99 at the Widener Indoor Classic, ran a meet-record 48.76 to win the Centennial Conference gold medal, and lowered his mark by two hundredths of a second while placing second at the AARTFC meet.

Short also set school records in the 200 and 500 and anchored the record-setting 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams. Except for the 200, the school records had stood since 2012 or earlier. Short's season-best time of 6.98 in the 60 threatened the school record of 6.92.

Short is Muhlenberg's second indoor national qualifier in the 400; the other came in 2011. He is the first member of the Mule men's program to qualify in a running event since 2017.

The prelims for the 400 meters are scheduled for Friday, March 13, at 3:25, with the finals set for Saturday at 4:35.

Since 2001, the Muhlenberg track and field program has produced a national qualifier in 23 of 26 years.