ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Haverford College men's track & field team wrapped up action on the third and final day of the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday afternoon with seniors Jamie Moreland and Ryan Kredell wrapping up storied Haverford careers in exhilarating fashion.
Senior Jamie Moreland logged a spirited runner-up finish in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Division III Track & Field championships on Saturday, wrapping up his collegiate career with a personal-best time of 3:45.76 to claim his second outdoor All-America certificate in as many seasons.
Moreland was held off by Ryan Wilson of MIT, but outpaced a large contingent with a blazing-fast final 400 meters, to clear Matthew Lecky of RPI and Sam Llaenza of Lynchburg.
The Los Angeles native grabbed his second consecutive All-America certificate, after earning a sixth-place finish a season ago. In total, Haverford has now had 30 All-America certificates in the outdoor 1,500 meters, with Moreland becoming the first back-to-back All-America finisher for the Fords since Charlie Marquardt '16 achieved the feat in both 2015 and 2016. Moreland matched Marquardt's runner-up finisher from the 2015 championships with the seventh-fastest individual mark in program history.
Kevin Foley '83 (1980-83), Liam O'Neill '86 (1986), Matt Leighninger '92 (1990-92), Aaron Curry '94 (1993-94), Karl Paranya '97 (1995-97), Aryn Davis '97 (1997), Ntobeko Ntusi (1998), Jason Bernstein '01 (1999, 2001), Bobby Cannon '08 (2005), Sam Dalke '07 (2006), Ivo Milic-Strkalj '13 (2010), Tim Schoch '12 (2011-12), Eric Arnold '12 (2011), Jordan Schilit '13 (2003), Charlie Marquardt '16 (2015, 16), and Greg Morgan (2018) have also all reached All-America status in the event.
Foley is a three-time national champion, while also setting the national record (3:44.50) in 1982. Karl Paranya also nabbed individual titles in the national meet in 1996 and 1997. Moreland finishes his Haverford career with three total All-America certificates as he was also honored in the indoor mile during the 2019-20 season.
In addition to Moreland's All-America clinching performance, Ryan Kredell finished agonizingly close to also taking home an All-America certificate in the 5,000 meters. In a race that featured some of the most decorated Division III distance runners in history, Kredell was locked in a tight battle for positioning during the final laps.
As is customary in many distance races, the top pack began to pull away convincingly a little more than halfway through the race, with seven-time NCAA champion Alex Phillip of John Carroll and Elias Lindgren of WIlliams both at the top of the field. A peloton then formed with Kredell right in the mix for an All-America spot as the strongest runners hit the home stretch.
After a rejuvenating lap with just two more to go slingshotted Kredell up three spots right into the middle of the action, a group of four runners giving everything they have crossed the finish line in tandem, with sixth-place Cory Kennedy of RPI finishing in 14:22.64, Frank Csorba of Lynchburg crossing in 14:22.66 for seventh, and Connor Riss of North Central just barely edging out Kredell in a photo finish (14:22.69) while Kredell finished in 14:22.71.
The Geneva, Illinois product will leave Haverford as one of the most decorated runners in program history, was forced to settle for the ninth place showing. Kredell entered as the 15th seed and just narrowly missed etching his name into a list that includes 10 All-Americans in the 5,000 meters.
Kredell, the CC Track Athlete of the Year, put together another exceptional campaign in the distance events, ranking among the top-12 nationally in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs. The CC champion in both events was the top Division III finisher at the 5K at the Penn Relays. Kredell's two event wins at the CC meet helped the Fords to a third-place team finish at the CC Championships.