Evan Hassman Earns Top-Eight Finish in NCAA Steeplechase for All-America Honors

GENEVA, Ohio. - Sophomore Evan Hassman had a late push in the final lap to move up to eighth place in the finals of the 3000-meter steeplechase on Saturday on the final day of the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute, earning his way on to the All-America podium.

All-America honors are given to the top eight finishers in each event, and Hassman was just outside that cutoff, standing in ninth place two seconds out of eighth entering the final lap.  He was able to have a strong final 400 meters (1:11.71) to move up to eighth with a final time of 9:15.31, over three seconds ahead of the ninth-place finisher. 

It was a fitting finish as Hassman was just outside the cutoff to even make it to the NCAA Championships after coming in second at SCIACs. In his final race, though, Hassman was able to trim three more seconds off his top time with a 9:08.60 at the Occidental Invitational, the third-best time in CMS history, earning his way into the field with the 16th best time in Division III (the top 20 times earn bids). He then way out-performed his seed, coming in eighth place at nationals.

Also competing at the NCAA Division III Championships for the Stags were sophomore Alex McDonald in the 400-meter hurdles, junior Maxwell Knowles in the javelin, freshman Miles Christensen in the 5000 meters, and the 4x100 relay team of senior Matthew Guillory, sophomore Carter Henderson, freshman Jamie Cockburn and senior Corbin Bethurem, all of whom qualified for nationals by putting up historically strong performances in CMS history this spring.

McDonald tied for second all-time at CMS with a 53.10, the best time for any Stag in the 15 years since Roman Marenin set the record in 2004 at 52.68. Knowles had a javelin throw of 199 feet to win the SCIAC Championship, which places fourth in CMS annals and was the best throw for a Stag since 2008, and Christensen recorded the fourth-best 5K time in school history and had a dramatic comeback win in the SCIAC Championships to take first place. The 4x100 relay, meanwhile, set a new school record with a 41.18 at the Azusa Pacific Twilight meet to earn its way to nationals. 

CMS concludes the 2018-19 season after winning the SCIAC Championship over a Pomona-Pitzer team that came in ranked No. 2 in the country. The Stags return all of their individual winners at the SCIACs next year as they try to repeat, including throwers Knowles, Matthew Sill, and Reese Peterson, pole vaulter Walker Quinn, McDonald, Christensen, and the 4x400 relay team (McDonald, Daniel Addison, Cockburn and Keizo Morgan). CMS also returns 15 of its 17 All-SCIAC performers, losing only Bethurem and jumper Eric Myers to graduation.