EUGENE, Ore. - North Dakota State senior Eric Stroh advanced to the quarterfinals of the 800 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Thursday, May 26.

Stroh ran a personal best time of 1:48.73, placing third overall as well as third in his heat. He dropped almost a second from his previous best of 1:49.65.  His time ranks second all-time in NDSU history and is only two-tenths off Heith Janke's school record.  He will run in the 24-athlete quarterfinal Friday at 7:05 p.m. Central.  The top 12 athletes in the quarterfinal will advance to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa June 8-11.

The other four athletes in the Bison contingent will also compete Friday.  Logan Hollenkamp and Casey Orgon will compete in the hammer at 5:30 p.m.  Jeramy Geditz will participate in the high jump at 5:45 p.m. and Matt Tetzlaff will run the first round of the 110 meter hurdles at 5:25 p.m.