Senior Geoff Lambert's final indoor 800-meter race finished less than half a second away from chance to run for a national championship. He took fourth place in the second heat of the NCAA Division III National Championship qualifying race with a time of 1:56.35, but did not advance to Saturday's finals.
Lambert raced in the fastest qualifying section, but the group ran at a much slower pace than the first heat, which saw all six members advance to the finals. Only the top-two finishers in each heat plus the four fastest remaining times move on to the finals. Defending national champion Jimmy O'Brien from Ohio Northern University, the host school for this year's championship event, won heat two with a time of 1:56.06. Peter Kosgei was second at 1:56.11. Aron Kehoe took third (1:56.17), with Lambert just behind in fourth. The slowest time among the first heat competitors was 1:55.30 by Nick Zeien.
Lambert finished second to O'Brien at last year's indoor championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. This was his third indoor championship event and fifth track and field championship race in all.