BOSTON  Methodist seniors Erran Greene and Jeremy Prichard circled the light- and dark-blue tinted six-lane oval of the Reggie Lewis Center Friday evening, competing in the preliminary heats of the men's 400-meter dash at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship.

The duo, with the two fastest times in Methodist history, blasted from the starting blocks early Friday evening in the first heat of five and crossed the finish with an identical time of 48.82 seconds.

The waiting game came next, as only the fastest eight finishers from the five heats would advance into Saturday's championship final.

The dead heat between Prichard and Greene would eventually require deeper examination, though, as they tied for the eighth and final qualifying spot.

For Prichard, the timing system's reach out into the 1,000th of a second proved fruitful while for Greene, tragic.

With a posting of 48.811 seconds, Prichard became the Monarch who would advance into the championship final, edging out Greene's 48.820.

The cruel irony of Friday's results harken back to when Greene set the school record at the University of South Carolina Open on February 16.

Greene ran in an early heat and broke the Methodist record (49.19) with his time of 48.27, followed soon after in another heat by Prichard who also surpassed the old record with his time of 48.58, but had to settle for the second-fastest time in Methodist history.

Now it will be Prichard racing one last time in his final indoor track season appearance.

The championship heat of the men's 400 is scheduled to go off at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday.