Mason Ratkovich Earns All-America Honors in 1500 Meters with Fourth-Place Finish

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Mason Ratkovich of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's track and field team captured All-America honors in the 1500 meters with a fourth-place finish on Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Division III Championships, held at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.

Ratkovich was the highest finisher for the CMS men's cross country team at nationals in the fall and capped off his senior season by coming in fourth with a time of 3:52.44, just ahead of Ned Harrington of Bates in fifth by a tenth of a second. Sam Llaneza of Lynchburg was able to pull ahead and win in 3:51.05. 

CMS also had four other competitors at the NCAA Division III Championships this weekend. On Friday, Sarath Kakani threw in the shot put and had a top throw of 51'11.25", placing him 18th. Kakani was on the outside of qualification, but earned his way in with his sixth and final throw at his final meet (the Redlands Last Chance Meet), when he broke his PR by over a foot to move into the top 22 in the nation. 

Ellis DelVecchio made his second appearance at the NCAA Championships, after finishing second last year with the 4x400 relay team. He earned his way in this year with an individual qualification in the 800 meters, and finished 20th on Friday evening with a 1:54.11.

On Thursday, Colin Scanlon was in action in the 400-meter hurdles and Hayden Beauchemin competed in the steeplechase after both set new CMS record in those respective events during the regular season. Scanlon came in 13th place in the 400 hurdles with a 53.64, while Beauchemin came in 15th in the steeplechase with a 9:17.02.