Truett-McConnell University senior Robert Bledsoe qualified for the 2018 NAIA Track and Field National Championship in the marathon this past weekend by blistering the course, and the field, in the 2018 Museum of Aviation Half Marathon in Warner Robins, Georgia.
Bledsoe overcame tough conditions with a temperature of 32 degrees, which felt like 21 degrees due to the wind, at the start of the race. He paced the field from the onset of the race and took the overall victory with a time of 1:12:27.
The race consisted of 287 runners from all over the southeast and was held on the Warner Robins Air force base. Bledsoe’s time was the second fastest time on the course for the half marathon since the event’s inception in 1997.
Bledsoe came into the event needing to run a time below 1:15:00 in the half marathon to meet NAIA qualifying standards for the 2018 National Championship held at the end of May in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
“I felt like Robert had the speed and endurance to qualify, and he’s worked extremely hard the last few months to get his body in shape so that he could give it a go today,” said Truett-McConnell Head Cross Country Coach Jarret Holland. “Robert came up just short in his bids to qualify for the National Championship in Cross Country, and I think that really helped motivate him to meet the mark needed for the half marathon. He’s been a great teammate and a real leader for our program the past two seasons, and this could not have happened to a more deserving person. I couldn’t be happier for him today.”
Bledsoe became just the second Truett-McConnell athlete to qualify for NAIA Nationals in the sport of Track and Field since the program was added to the Truett-McConnell Athletics Program in 2017. He joins Tyler Barber (2017; 800 meter) on the short, but growing list of Truett-McConnell athletes to qualify for the Track and Field National Championship.
The rest of the Bears Track and Field squad will kick off their regular season this upcoming weekend on Saturday, January 20th in Daytona Beach, Florida at the Indoor-Outdoor Challenge hosted by Embry-Riddle University.
