PITTSBURG, Kan. (Jan. 29, 2016) – New Oklahoma Christian track and field coach Wade Miller hinted before the season started that the Eagles' 4x400 relay team in 2016 could be special. That quartet proved him right in record-setting fashion on Friday night.

The quartet of sophomore Sawyer Pehkonen, sophomore Landon Huslig, junior Ryan Lutterloh and junior Joshua Jones broke a 50-year-old OC school record, running a 3:15.74 time on the oversized track at the Robert W. Plaster Center in the Pittsburg State Invitational.

Pehkonen, Huslig, Lutterloh and Jones broke the previous OC indoor mark of 3:16.04, set in 1966 by Larry Rehl, Roscoe Cogburn, Jim Butler and Hal Ballou, who were coached by the legendary Ray Vaughn Sr. and were contemporaries as students of Vaughn's successor, Randy Heath, who retired last May.

The 4x400-meter relay mark was far and away the oldest in OC's indoor record book. The same foursome that set the indoor mark in 1966 later that year posted the still-standing school outdoor record of 3:11.32.

As an added bonus, the Eagles' current 4x400 squad recorded a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, which will be held at the same facility in southeast Kansas on March 11-12. The 3:15.74 clocking was unofficially the fifth-fastest this season in Division II, even though it only allowed OC to finish seventh among 37 teams in Friday's race.

"This was a great experience for the guys," Miller said. "They are working hard and was exciting to see it pay off as the race unfolded. Coaches (Jeff) Bennett, (Philip) Dale and (Tony) Wallace have done a great job preparing these guys to perform."

Earlier Friday, Pehkonen, a transfer from Division I Northern Colorado, had become OC's first-ever Division II national qualifier in any sport by posting a provisional qualifying time of 48.60 seconds in the 400 meters.  His time, which placed him sixth among 53 runners in the race, unofficially ranks as the 12th-best in Division II this season.

OC junior Kyle Broaddrick also posted a sixth-place finish (among 54 runners) in the mile. His career-best time of 4:20.68 was second among Division II competitors in the race.

Huslig also competed in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing 29th among 50 competitors with a time of 8.62 seconds. Sisay Gillock was 19th among 26 runners in the 5,000 meters in 15:40.80, while Emory Lobley posted a personal-best time of 1:15.71 in the 600 meters to place 22nd of 36 runners.