May 24, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA – The long willowy legs of senior Justin Pfruender continued
a storied tradition of steeplechase running at Calvin College Friday night at
the NCAA III Track and Field Championships at Macalester College.
A native of Midland and a graduate of Midland High School, Pfruender took third
in the 3,000 meter steeplechase Friday night with a time of 9:04.90 to record
the seventh All-America performance in the event in Calvin history. Pfruender’s
time is the fourth-fastest in Calvin history and it came nearly four years to
the very date that Calvin’s Geoff VanDragt had placed third in the event at the
1998 nationals – also hosted by Macalester College.
Seeded seventh in the race, Pfruender moved out of a logjam of runners after the
first lap and into position among the top three. The move by Pfruender allowed
him to gain valuable running space, allowing him plenty of room to clear every
barrier in the seven-and-a-half lap event. With two laps remaining, Pfruender
moved into firm hold of third place and in the final 200 meters, fought off a
charge from Karl Remsen of Williams College to hold on for third.
Justin Easter of Bates College captured the national title in the steeplechase
with a time of 9:02.02 while Ryan Reed of Pacific Lutheran was second in
9:02.34.
“Justin ran an incredibly smart race this evening,” said Calvin distance coach
Brian Diemer, a three-time U.S. Olympian in the 3,000 meter steeplechase
including a bronze medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. “The steeplechase
is obviously very near and dear to my heart and to see one of your own athletes
run the way Justin did tonight just brings tears to my eyes.’
“Justin’s biggest strength tonight was his ability to stay ahead of the mob of
runners chasing behind him,” continued Diemer. “By doing that, he had plenty of
room to hurdle the barriers and it made his race all that more efficient for
him. If he stayed back in that pack of guys, he could have gotten in real
trouble. It took a lot of courage on his part to step out from the pack and run
on his own. And then he had to hold on for all he was worth down the stretch
and I give him a ton of credit for that.”
Pfruender is set to compete in the 5,000 meters Saturday as well.
Also competing for Calvin Friday night was senior Ryan Moore of Wexford,
Pennsylvania in the discus. Moore took 12th in the event with a throw of 151-6.
-end-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri May 24 2002 - 21:38:24 EDT