Bermudian pair Shaquille Dill and Dage Minors advanced to tonight’s 800 metres final at the NCAA Division II Track and Field championships in Bradenton, Florida after being involved in an exciting battle for first place in their preliminary heat last evening.

Dill, who won the NCAA Div II Indoor Championship showdown with Minors in March when he recorded 1min 49.96sec, clocked a winning time of 1:50.66 after a sprint to the tape with Minors, who finished in 1:50.78. Both automatically qualified as the first two finishers of each of the three heats, with the next two best times also qualifying for the final.

Dill, a sophomore, also helped the Saint Augustine’s University 4x400 metres relay team advance to today’s final after recording the fastest time in the two heats.

At the end of the three heats, Dill advanced with the third best time while Minors, of Franklin Pierce, had the fifth best time. The fastest time came out of heat three where William Mayhew, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs recorded a time of 1:50.49 while the eighth fastest finisher — Robin Butler of Western State — clocked 1:51.85, although he qualified automatically after finishing second in heat three.

Less than two hours after his run in the 800 metres, Dill was back on the track for the relay where he and team-mates Shawn Rowe, Adrian Kimmons and Khari Herbert Jr won their heat in the fastest qualifying time of 3:08.46. Alaska Anchorage, who also qualified from that heat, placed second in 3:10.65.

In the second heat, Shorter University finished first in 3:10.31 while Lincoln University were second in 3:10.52. The schools with the four next fastest times also advanced to the final.

Dill and Minors will compete in the 800 metres final at 8.05pm Bermuda time while Dill returns to the track at 10.05 for the relay final.