National Championships
2013 Outdoor 5,000-Meter Run (14:25.84)
2014 Indoor 5,000-Meter Run (14:06.73)
2014 Indoor 3,000-Meter Run (8:10.40)
2014 10,000-Meter Run (31:11.83)

Having come out on the short end of a pair of close finishes in national-championship events, John Crain was able to exorcise some demons in the 5,000-meter run at the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, making a big move in the final lap to claim the title at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Crain led most of the final mile of the 5,000-meter run at the indoor national championships the previous March only to be passed up in the final straightaway. He made a bid for the win in the 10,000-meter run earlier in the outdoor meet before placing second again. In between, he came within a few strides of a victory in the 5,000-meter run at the Drake Relays in April, again winding up at No. 2.

He took matters into his own hands and closed the door on a tightly-packed field to claim his first title, hanging tough when the pace picked before scorching the track with a 57-second final lap to win going away in 14:25.84, thrilling a large throng of his teammates in the stands.

"I can't even describe this feeling," Crain said. "Finally, everything came together. The race played out perfectly, and I had that last gear in the final quarter-mile. This is a moment I'm going to remember for the rest of my life."

Crain returned for the Indoor Championships in 2014 and left no doubt in claiming the 5,000-meter title which had eluded him the previous year. He took the lead in a fast-paced race just past the two-mile mark and broke the field with a 4:28 final mile to pull away for a 13-second win in a personal-best time of 14:06.73, making him the second-fastest at the distance in the history of the Cardinals' program.

"It felt really easy," he said. "I felt extremely comfortable, I was watching the Jumbotron each lap and I saw the other guys falling back, so I knew I was all by myself and no one would catch me. That's probably one of the more comfortable 5K's I've run in my life."

Just one day later, he returned to the track and became the first NCAA Division III indoor champion at 3,000 meters. Despite mounting fatigue, he pulled away in the final lap to claim the win in a personal-best time of 8:10.40.

"That was tough," Crain said. "My plan was to take it out hard and see who was going to go with me. About 200 meters into the race, I realized that wasn't going to happen. My legs were a little tired, so I decided to just back off and save my gears until the very end."

He then transferred his dominance to the outdoor arena, claiming the 10,000-meter national title at the 2014 Division III Outdoor Championships at Ohio Wesleyan University. A field of competitors bent on keeping Crain's strength reined in kept the pace extremely slow for the first four miles of the 6.2-mile event, but Crain broke free with a punishing 4:28 mile late in the race which broke most of the field. Only Haverford College's Chris Stadler remained in contention, and Crain eased off the pace with a mile to go, allowing Stadler to shoulder the lead, before bolting back in front with a 62-second final lap to secure the win in 31:11.83. 

"I knew, when I made a move, I wanted it to be hard, and that's what ended up happening," Crain said. "I knew some people wouldn't be able to cover it and the ones that could, it would end up hurting them. I knew it would help us because we're a strong team, and it showed today."