PUEBLO, CO – The University of Mary men's 4x100 meter relay team made program history as the first Marauders relay team to earn NCAA All-American honors. The quartet of
Jorgen Paulson,
Raheem Taitt-Best,
Michael Cartwright and
Xavier Ifill combined forces to place sixth at the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The last of nine teams to qualify in the preliminaries on Thursday, the Marauders came out flying on Championship Saturday. Paulson provided a fast start for the Marauders before passing the baton to Taheem-Best. Cartwright handled the third leg with Ifill finishing strong.
The squad collaborated for a time of 40.08 seconds and just missed taking home fourth place. Grand Valley State University finished fourth with a clocking of 40.027 with Carson-Newman crossing the line in 40.03 for fifth, just .05 seconds ahead of UMary.
This is the second time Paulson and Raheem-Taitt have earned All-American honors and the first time for both Cartwright and Ifill. It was the last collegiate race for Paulson, a senior who previously earned All-American honors in the long jump at the 2025 indoor championships. The other three UMary runners will return next season to take another shot at nationals. Taitt-Best, an All-American outdoors last spring in the 400, is a junior while Cartwright is a sophomore and Ifill is a freshman.
"I'm so proud of these guys," said UMary Head Coach
Cale Korbelik. "They have the three fastest times in school history. It was just a great all-around team effort."
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