LA CROSSE, Wis. – Haverford College's men's team used four All-American performances from Avi Bregman, Peter Kissin, Jordan Schilit and Christopher Stadler to finish eighth at the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship which concluded Saturday at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.
Bregman was fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the opening men's event on the track Saturday afternoon with Schilit following soon after with a second-place finish in the 1,500.
The final individual event of the day was the 5,000 with Stadler finishing sixth and Kissin in seventh, earning the third and fourth all-American certificates from the day, while Schilit was 10th.
Early in the steeplechase Bregman raced near the front of the pack before settling into sixth halfway through the event. With two to go he moved up to fifth then battled Wis.-Eau Claire's Jeremy Keiser down the stretch, out leaning Keiser at the tape by six-100ths of a second to finish fourth with a time of 9 minutes, 1.96 seconds.
Michael LeDuc of Connecticut College won the steeplechase with a time of 8:50.58, beating out runner-up Jack Davies of Wis.–Eau Claire by 0.08 seconds.
Twenty minutes later Schilit stepped onto the track for the event final of the 1,500, toeing the starting line as the top seed after Friday's preliminary heats.
In the opening two laps Schilit was content to lay off the shoulders of the leaders but he broke to the front on the last lap with returning champion Dan Sullivan of Wis.-Stevens Point in tow.
The pair battled over the final turn and straightaway with Sullivan edging out Schilit for the win by 0.97 seconds. Schilit posted a career-best time of 3:47.16 while Sullivan crossed the line in 3:46.19.
The final individual event of the day brought Stadler, Kissin and Schilit together for the timed final of the 5,000.
The pack of 20 racers rolled as one through the opening five laps with Stadler hanging near the front and Schilit and Kissin biding their time at the back.
The pace quickened with seven laps remaining and Schilit moved up to join Stadler in the front six or so, while Kissin began a milder push toward the front.
Kissin moved all the way up into the top six with four to go, edging just past Stadler, but Schilit dropped back toward 15th. With two-and-a-half to go Kissin broke to the lead on the back stretch and led the now-stretched out pack around the curve into the front straight.
Stadler kept pace moving into third but both he and Kissin were overtaken on the back straight with 1,200 meters left in the race. The pair were able to hold onto their spots over the final lap with Stadler coming in sixth with a time of 14:29.82 and Kissin posting a seventh-place time of 14:32.44.
Schilit, in his second race of the day and third of the three-day meet, finished in 10th. John Crain of North Central College captured the event crown with a clocking of 14:25.84.
The four all-American placings (top eight finishes) from the four Fords allowed Haverford to finish with 23 points which was eighth in the team standings. Host Wis.–La Crosse held off Eau Claire, the winner of the championship's final event (4x400 relay), by two points to capture the team title with 66 points.
NCAA 2013 D-III Outdoor Track & Field Championship, live results
Event results: Steeplechase | 1,500 | 5,000