Mason Ratkovich Finishes Fifth in Prelims, Earns Place in 1500 Meter Finals

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Mason Ratkovich finished in fifth place in prelims in the 1500 meters at the NCAA Division III Championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, earning a spot in the finals on Saturday for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's track and field team.

Ratkovich ran a 3:52.72 to earn his way through, which was only 1.23 seconds behind the fastest time, which came from Steven Potter of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Ratkovich was well ahead of the 13th place cutoff (3:54.70) and ran in the second heat, allowing him to knew where he stood and preserve some energy for Saturday's finals run (his PR is a 3:47.82). 

Colin Scanlon and Hayden Beauchemin ran in qualifying heats for the Stags in the 400-meter hurdles and the steeplechase, respectively. Scanlon finished in 13th place with a 53.64, and Beauchemin came in 15th place with a 9:17.02. 

Tomorrow, two more members of the Stags will compete, with Sarath Kakani in the shot put, after he qualified for the NCAAs with his final throw in his final event (his sixth throw at the Redlands Last Chance Qualifier last week). 

Meanwhile, Ellis DelVecchio will be competing in his second NCAA Championship event, after being part of the 4x400 relay team for the Stags that earned a runner-up finish last year, with the third-fastest time in NCAA Division III history.