DES MOINES, Iowa — Brady Gehret’s bid for a national championship came up short Friday night.

The Penn State sprinter finished sixth in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Drake University.

The sophomore from Altoona took his lap around the track in 45.44 seconds, which was not enough to catch winner Tony McQuay of Florida with a time of 44.58.

The clocking is the second-best 400 effort of his career. Gehret is just the second Nittany Lion to earn All-America honors in the event outdoors, and the first since Mike Sands was fifth in the 440-yard dash in 1975.

Gehret will be back on the track today, running the anchor leg in the 1,600 relay with Aaron Nadolsky, Brandon Bennett-Green and Casimir Loxsom. The foursome turned in the top qualifying time Thursday. That race is scheduled to begin around 1:40 p.m.

Also competing today is Joe Kovacs , in the shot put.