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Results

LA CROSSE, Wis. (May 26, 2018) - Just as it did during the indoor season, the North Central College men's track and field team found itself joined in a fierce battle at the top of the team standings Saturday in the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships. When the dust settled, the Cardinals finished as the national runners-up once again in a meet that was not decided until the final running event was complete.

With a total of 35 points, North Central finished a single point behind the University of Mount Union's (Ohio) winning score of 36. Rowan University (New Jersey) placed third with 27 points, while Benedictine University finished fourth with 26.

The Cardinals owned a four-point lead as the teams took to the track for the 4-by-400-meter relay. North Central's foursome of Daniel Spaccapaniccia, Michael Stanley, Ben Nordman and Peyton Piron delivered a champion's effort, hitting the finish line in three minutes, 11.27 seconds. The time is the fastest by the quartet this season by more than a second and ranks third-fastest in the program's history outdoors.

North Central's time was good enough for fourth in the event, earning them All-America honors, but Mount Union sprinter A.J. Digby's 44.72-second anchor split gave the Raiders a first-place finish and just enough points to outdistance the Cardinals on a day which saw them claim All-America accolades in three other events.

"Any time you get a trophy, you have to be happy," said North Central head coach Frank Gramarosso. "Our goal is always to get on the awards stand. The win was there for the taking, but I'm happy that we got a trophy and I'm happy for the guys who were here. I know we tried, but sometimes somebody else is a little better."

The Cardinals scored 13 points in the pole vault to put themselves into contention in the team race. Luke Winder was denied in his bid to become the first vaulter in collegiate history with seven combined national titles, though he did place second with a clearance of  5.35 meters (17 feet, 6.50 inches) to score eight important team points. Dylan Kuipers cleared 5.00 meters (16'4.75") to place fourth and earn outdoor All-America honors for the second straight year.

At the hottest point of a day when the heat index neared 100 degrees, North Central sent five athletes to the starting line for the 5,000-meter run. Dhruvil Patel, the winner of the 10,000-meter run on Thursday, hung with the leaders early before dropping back, then put on a furious finishing kick to secure fourth place in 14:47.26. Matt Norvell hit the finish line 11th (15:08.72), followed by Zach Hird in 12th (15:11.54), Nolan McKenna in 16th (15:26.48) and Dan O'Keefe in 19th (15:38.95).

Piron tacked on an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 51.95 seconds, boosting his career total to eight All-America plaques, while O'Keefe narrowly missed out on a spot on the awards stand with a ninth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:16.47).

"It's a track meet, there are ups and downs," Gramarosso said. "I think the heat was a big factor in the distance races, but you hope other guys can pick it up in other areas. I'm proud of everybody who is here and had a chance to compete."

The Cardinals posted their highest finish at an outdoor national championship meet since 2011 and climbed the awards stand as a team for the 11th time outdoors.