ISU runner James Galvan finished 12th in the 800-meter run at this year’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship.

Galvan, a junior from Tempe, Ariz., was the only representative of the Cyclone men’s team at the championship meet. His time of 1 minute, 51.20 seconds in the preliminaries left Galvan short of qualifying for the finals.

He came into the meet ranked 10th after setting a personal best of 1:48.36 earlier in the season. Tyler Mulder of Northern Iowa went on to win the 800, finishing with a time of 1:49.20 in the finals.

Arizona State claimed its first indoor title, finishing the meet with 44 points, beating out second-place Florida State by 3.

The Sun Devils went into the final two events trailing the Seminoles by 10 points. Kyle Alcorn, who entered the event ranked 14th, pulled off an impressive victory in the 3,000, putting Arizona State into a tie with one event remaining.

Arizona State held off the Seminoles in the 4-by-400-meter relay with a third-place finish – enough to earn the indoor title. The championship was the first for the Sun Devil men since they won the 1977 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The Arizona State women’s team won its division, repeating as champions.

The indoor championship concludes the 2008 men’s indoor track indoor season. Iowa State moves outdoors for the start of the second half of the season beginning with the Missouri Relays on March 29.

Cyclone coach Corey Ihmels hopes his young team continues to show improvement going into the outdoor season.

“I think the main goal for everyone is to keep working hard,” Ihmels said. “As we go outdoors, I think we become a better team.”