Trio of Gators Excel at North Central

May 13, 2006

Final Results (PDF)

Naperville, Ill. - The Allegheny College men's track and field team sent three runners to the Dr. Keeler Invitational, hosted by North Central College. Each Gator hit an NCAA Division III provisional mark in the "last-chance" meet.

In the 5,000-meter run, both sophomore Ryan Place (Meshoppen/ Elk Lake) and junior Ben Mourer (Chicora/ Karns City) hit personal bests, Place finishing third in a time of 14:34.01 and Mourer eleventh with a time of 14:42.75. Each athlete was easily under the provisional mark of 14:48.00. Place, whose previous best was 14:40.10, looks to be on his way to his first NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, while Mourer will have to sit and wait to see if his time will be enough to get him into the elite field.

Like Mourer, freshman Garret Piispanen (Fruita, Colo./ Fruita Monument) is new to the NCAA provisional field. His personal best time of 1:53.40 in the 800-meter run placed him eleventh in the race, and has him listed as the second fastest freshman in Division III this year, and in the top 25 overall.

The Blue and Gold will attend one more last-chance meet next weekend, when they head to Berea, Ohio for the Baldwin-Wallace Twilight Meet. The NCAA Division III National Championships take place the following week, May 25-27, at Benedictine (Ill.).

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