Hope College's Kairo Barifagok will race in the NCAA finals in the 400-meter hurdles after qualifying on Thursday during the opening day of the Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The sophomore from Las Vegas, Nevada (Cristo Rey Saint Victor) clocked the fourth-fastest qualifying time at 52.07 seconds.

The 400-meter hurdle final will be held on Saturday, May 23, at 4:25 p.m. Eastern at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. The meet will be streamed for free on ncaa.com.

Three runners finished ahead of Barifagok during qualifying: Blake Postler of Wisconsin-Eau Clare at 51.62, Josh Wilkie of Tufts at 51.96, and Levy Biery of Colby at 52.02.

Barifagok posted the fastest time in his heat. The top runners from all three heats and the six next fastest runners advanced to the championship race.

The NCAA Championships resume on Friday, May 22. Hope's 4x100-meter relay will race in the preliminaries at 3:10 p.m. Central. The Flying Dutchmen's 4x100-meter relay features senior Nolan Sanders of Midland, Mich. (H.H. Dow); junior Dylan Terpstra of Hudsonville, Mich. (Hudsonville); freshman Maurice Streeter of Kalamazoo, Mich. (Kalamazoo Central); and freshman Luke Bellino of Brighton, Mich. (Brighton).