PITTSBURG, Kan. - At the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, senior Robert Peterson finished 14^th overall, eighth in his heat, during the men's mile preliminaries at the Robert W. Plaster Center on Pittsburg State University's campus.

Peterson entered the race as the 12^th seed with a qualifying time of 4:07.67. He was in a race consisting of two preliminary heats with the top three from each heat advancing with the next three fastest times. Peterson's eighth place finish in his heat keeps him out of the finals to be run tomorrow.

"Robert went out and had a good pass," MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. "He led for almost the entire race, probably 1200 meters and then in the last 400 meters a couple of guys went ahead of him. It just turned out the way the race was structured that he fell behind late in the final meters."

"He made them run all a little faster and just had a couple of bad laps," Coppock continued. "However, it was his second best time ever and I know he did all he could which is the most you can ask for."

Peterson completed the race in 4:09.15. The top finisher was Oliver Aitchison from Adams State who completed the race in 4:04.91. The top-five runners from Peterson's heat made the cut for the men's mile finals tomorrow.

Bettering his time from last year at the national championships, in 2015 Peterson placed 10th with a time of 4:11.29. The Billings Skyview High School graduate is the MSUB indoor record holder in the mile and a two-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion in the mile.

Up next for Peterson is the outdoor track and field season. MSUB's first meet is on Mar. 26, at the Montana State University Invitational.