NCAA Division II Championships page / Live Video / Live Results

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – East Stroudsburg University senior Negus Graham moved another step closer to his third straight All-America honor in the 400m dash, finishing fifth in the prelims and advancing to the finals on Friday at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Graham ran a time of 47.56 seconds, almost four-tenths below his qualifying time of 47.95 seconds that won the PSAC championship, to earn one of the nine spots in the final on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The top eight finishers in the final, which will be run in two heats, will earn All-America status.

Graham finished fourth in the nation indoors and eighth outdoors last year to become ESU's first non-hurdler to claim All-America honors at a distance below 1500 meters. He ran 47.37 in the prelims and 47.47 in the finals at last year's indoor championships, which were also held at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

He placed second of four runners in the second heat, which included top seed and defending indoor and outdoor runner-up Leford Green of Johnson C. Smith. Green ran a time of 47.11, followed by Graham and Robert Gardner of Indianapolis (47.78). Josh Edmonds of St. Augustine's, the No. 4 seed, broke in early and was disqualified.

Graham will be the top seed in the first heat of the finals. The top four times were turned in by Green (47.11), Dominic Smith of American International (47.26), Dane Hyatt of Lincoln, Mo. (47.32) and Antonio Abney of St. Augustine's (47.35). Green, Abney and Graham were All-Americans both indoors and outdoors last year.

Seniors Trina Carito and Lynn Mayer will also compete on Saturday. Carito is seeded ninth in the pentathlon and is looking for her first career All-America honor, and Mayer can become ESU's first five-time All-American and only the second national champion in school history as she competes in the high jump. Mayer enters with the fifth-best mark and was tied for second indoors and tied for third outdoors in 2010.

Complete results and live video of the meet are both available online at http://www.ncaa.com/sports/trackfield-indoor-women/d2.