Three Fords Run to All-America Honors at NCAA Track Championship

Jordan Schilit, Haverford; Tim Schoch, Haverford; Andrew Sturner, Haverford

Haverford's Jordan Schilit, Tim Schoch and Andrew Sturner all earned All-America honors at the 2012 NCAA Division III Track and Field championship hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The final session of the three-day NCAA 2012 Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship concluded on Saturday with Tim Schoch and Jordan Schilit from Haverford College earning All-American honors.

In the third individual track event of the day, Schoch ran to all-American status (top eight) in the 1,500 meter run with his fifth-place time of 3 minutes, 56.99 seconds. The spread between the winning time -- 3:55.38 by Dan Sullivan of the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point -- and the last-place time (12th) was just five seconds. Schoch crossed the finish line 0.63 seconds behind the fourth-place runner and bested the sixth-place finisher by 0.07 seconds in the tightly contested championship final.

In the meet's last individual event, Schilit raced to a second-place finish in the 5,000 meter run clocking a time, 14:20.45, five seconds behind event winner Tim Nelson of the University of Wisconsin–Stout. Schilit and Nelson entered the event with the two fastest times in the nation and maintained their hold on the top spots. Haverford's Peter Kissin finished 11th (14:42.54) and Faraz Sohail was 18th (15:08.42) in the 19-man field.

Schoch, a senior, earned his fourth all-American honor with Saturday's result. In 2011 he was part of the Fords' distance medley relay which finished third at the indoor national championship and he registered a third-place finish in the 800 meter run at the spring outdoor championship. At the 2012 indoor meet Schoch was fourth in the 800 to pick up another all-American nod.

Schilit capped off Saturday with his fourth all-American honor. He earned his first national honor as part of the Fords' 2010 national cross country championship team. He opened his junior year with an all-American finish (18th) at the 2011 cross country race and captured a seventh-place finish in the 5,000 at the 2012 indoor NCAA track meet.

Haverford College's Andrew Sturner finished sixth in the 10,000 meter run final at the NCAA 2012 Division III Outdoor Track & Field championship meet on the campus of Claremont-McKenna College. Sturner, seeded 19th of the 20 runners in the timed final of the 10,000, put Haverford on the scoreboard in the team race with his sixth-place time of 30 minutes, 53.09 seconds. He earned All-American honors and was one of 12 runners to break the stadium record (31:27.10) as Tim Nelson from the University of Wisconsin-Stout set a new standard with a winning time of 30:16.07. The Fords' Brian Sokas finished 17th.

Haverford College's Andrew Golato closed out his career as a Ford with an 18th-place finish in the 800 meter run Friday evening on Day 2 of the NCAA 2012 Division III track & field championship meet hosted by Claremont-McKenna College. Golato posted a time of 1 minute, 54.31 seconds in the third of three preliminary heats of the day's final individual event. The top two finishers in each heat plus the next three fastest times from the prelim heats advance to Saturday's championship final of nine racers. Golato was sixth in his heat.

In the 2012 team championship race, Haverford finished in a tie for 17th with 15 points. McMurray (Texas) University ran away with the team title scoring 66 points to out distance the runner-ups from the University of Wisconsin–LaCrosse which accumulated 41 points.