NIACC's Khat places fourth in Drake Relays' 800

DES MOINES - NIACC's Wal Khat placed fourth in the unseeded University/College 800 Thursday night at the Drake Relays in a school record time of 1 minute, 52.00 seconds.

Fort Hays State's Brett Meyer was the winner in a time of 1:50.53. Wisconsin's Cooper Barth was second in 1:51.35 and North Dakota State's Jonah Warwick was third in 1:51.58.

Khat broke the old school record of 1:53.32 by Alex Lugo at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Open on May 18, 2013.

It is the second school record in 12 days for Khat. He set the 1,500 school mark of 3:50.85 at the Jim Duncan Invitational on April 15.

Even though he set the school record, Khat said he was expecting more of himself on Thursday.

"I really don't know what happened," Khat said. "I didn't really kick it how I usually kick it.

"I'm disappointed with my time. I didn't really feel tired, but I really couldn't move my body. I tried to kick it at the end but I slowed down again."

Khat was the first male individual to run at the Drake Relays for the Trojans. The Drake Relays didn not allow two-year schools to compete until 2013.

In 2013, the NIACC men's 4x400 team of Lugo, Nako Omot, OJ Ojullu and Brock Schultz became the first athletes in school history to run at Drake. The foursome ran 3:25.55 in the prelims of the University/College division.

Khat, who won the NJCAA indoor national title in the 800 in March in 1:51.78, said he knows he can do better in the future.

"This is not my last race," he said. "I have more races coming.

"I can learn from what I did wrong."