Men's Track & Field Finishes Eighth at NCAA Indoor Nationals, Boasts Three All-Americans

RESULTS

Columbus, Ohio, March 12, 2011 — The Washington University in St. Louis men’s indoor track and field team saw three-student athletes garner All-America accolades on the second day of the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, March 12, on the campus of Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

The Washington University men’s team finished with 18 points to secure an eighth-place finish at the indoor national meet, the best finish in program history and the first time the Bears’ have placed in the top-10. The previous all-time best was a 15th-place showing in 2000. The WUSTL women finished with eight points to place in a tie for 27th place.

Senior Ben Harmon finished fourth in a field of 12 athletes in the pentathlon, earning All-America honors in the event for the second time in his career and the first since 2009.

Junior Dan Davis was the national runner-up in the 55-meter hurdles, repeating as an All-American in the event after placing fifth at last year’s indoor championship, while junior Tyler Jackson placed seventh in the 55-meter hurdles to garner All-America accolades for the first time in his career.

Harmon tallied 3,652 points in Saturday’s pentathlon, improving on his qualifying score of 3,634, but falling shy of his school-record of 3,671, set at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Championship meet. Central College’s Kurtis Brondyke (3,827 points) finished first in the pentathlon.

Harmon cleared 6.93 meters in the long jump portion of the event, which was the second-best performance in the pentathlon, netting 797 points in the process. He also finished fifth overall in the high jump with a height of 1.94 meters (749 points) and fifth in the 1,000-meter run, with a time of 2:46.98 (797 points).

Harmon completed the 55-meter hurdles in 8.09 (811 points) and recorded a career-best performance in the shot put with a hurl of 10.46 meters (513 points) to round out the five events. He has now earned All-America accolades in five events over the course of his career, twice in the decathlon (2008, 2009), twice in the pentathlon (2009, 2011) and once in the long jump (2011).

Davis broke the school record in the 55-meter hurdles on Saturday evening, posting a time of 7.47, which passed his school-record time of 7.50 from earlier this season. Jackson narrowly missed his personal record in the 55-hurdles with a time of 7.65 in the final, just 0.03 short of his personal-best time of 7.62.

Davis finished just 0.04 behind national champion Will Brown of Montclair State University (7.43). The Bears had never had an All-American in the 55-hurdles before Davis accomplished the feat last year and Washington University has two All-Americans in the same individual event for the first time in school history.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams will return to action for the start of the outdoor season when they host the Washington University Mini Meet on Friday, March 25, at the Bushyhead Track in St. Louis, Mo.