Dage Minors and Shaquille Dill are set for battle in the 800 metres at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, which starts today in Alabama.

Minors was denied a place in the final by three-tenths of a second as fellow Bermudian Dill claimed the remaining spot at last year’s competition at the Pittsburg State University.

Minors placed third in the first heat in a time of 1min 51.04sec and when the final times were compiled from the three heats, he was denied the eighth spot in the final by Dill’s time of 1:51.01 in the third heat.

Things could be different this time as Minors of Franklin Pierce College, is now ranked No 1 going into today’s heats, after posting a leading time of 1:48.70 recently.

Dill, who attends Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, is ranked fifth with a time of 1:49.71, so the stage is set for some interesting races. The finals will be held on Saturday.

Minors qualified for the championships after clocking a time of 1:49.76, the fastest by a Northeast-10 Conference student to rank him seventh in the nation.