BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Haverford College junior Dylan Gearinger was crowned the Division III national champion in the men's indoor 3,000-meter run on Saturday afternoon at the Birmingham Crossplex, crossing the finish line with a time of 8:16.77. Gearinger is Haverford's 10th individual indoor national champion in program history.
The time is Gearinger's career best mark and the fifth-best time in Haverford indoor history. Buoyed by 10 points from Gearinger's performance, The Fords finished tied for 13th overall in the meet as junior Greg Morgan also scored for the Fords with an All-America designation after a fifth-place finish in a time of 4:12.32 in the mile run.
Gearinger entered the race as the eighth-seeded runner. The Centennial Conference Indoor Track Performer of the Year was in the middle of the pack for the majority of the race but made a late push to inch towards the top of the heap. As the race headed towards its final laps, Gearinger finally gained separation from top contenders such as Isaac Garcia-Cassani of SUNY Geneseo and Dhruvil Patel of North Central, finishing more than a second clear of runner-up Garcia-Cassani with a dramatic late charge.
The Berwick, Pa. product takes home Haverford's first national championship since Chris Stadler '14 captured the 5,000-meter race in 2013. Gearinger's title is the first 3,000 meter crown in Haverford program history as he becomes just the program's third All-American at that distance. Charlie Marquardt '16 and Stadler were previously named All-America in the 3,000 meter, with each finishing in fifth place at the national meet.
Morgan had an impressive showing in the mile run, competing in the distance on the second consecutive day after finishing second in the first of two preliminary heats on Friday afternoon. Jeremy Hernandez of Ramapo led wire-to-wire to clinch the crown, but Morgan was part of a strong crop of runners that were vying for a podium finish. Morgan held off Casey Roberts of Wartburg to finish in the top five and finished less than two seconds back from runner-up Jeffrey Dover of Christopher Newport.
Morgan joins Marquardt and Ivo Milic-Strkalj '13 as Haverford athletes to be named All-American in the indoor mile run.
Mount Union (OH) won the overall national team title, taking 41 points to narrowly edge North Central (Ill.) for the first indoor title in program history.