GRINNELL, Iowa -- Brandeis senior Chris Brown (No. Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) claimed his first career All-America honor today, finishing third in the mile run at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field championships at Grinnell College.
Brown, who was seeded third entering the meet, ran the fastest time in preliminaries on Friday afternoon, 4:12.57, edging Kevin McCarthy of Wabash (Ind.) by 0.17 seconds. The time was a Grinnell facility record. In Saturday's finals, Brown ran in the pack for much of the race, staying between fifth and seventh place. After McCarthy surged to the lead in the final quarter-mile, Brown tried to catch him with his kick in the final lap. While it wasn't enough to claim the NCAA title, Brown moved into the top three of the podium, finishing with a time of 4:11.24. McCarthy eclipsed Brown's facility record with a winning time of 4:08.93, less than a second off the Division III championship meet record time.
"I'm really proud of [Brown's] performance," said Brandeis head coach John Evans. "He had taken a big step this season and finish third in his first national track championship is a great achievement."
With his third-place finish, Brown had the first All-America performance by a male at the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships since 2005, when Ryan Parker '06 was runner-up in the 800-meter run. The six points that Brown provided helped Brandeis place in a six-way tie for 27th place out of 60 schools that scored points. The Judges were eighth among New England schools and second among UAA schools, behind Washington U. (T18th, 10 points).
Click here for complete results: http://www.deltatiming.com/events/2012/2012-ncaa-division-3-indoor-championships/
Event 8 Men 1 Mile Run
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2 Heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next 4 best times
DIII Meet: $ 4:08.19 2007 Will Leer, Pomona-Pitzer
Stadium: # 4:13.06 2011 Kirkwood Donavin, Cornell College
Name Year School Finals Points
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Finals
1 Kevin McCarthy SR Wabash 4:08.93# 10
2 Patrick Klein SR Wis.-Platteville 4:10.36# 8
3 Chris Brown SR Brandeis 4:11.24# 6
4 Matt Turlip SR NYU 4:11.56# 5
5 Dan Smith SR Ohio Northern 4:11.65# 4
6 Connor Rose SR Tufts 4:15.85 3
7 Brian Saksa SO St. Olaf 4:15.86 2
8 Dan Sullivan SO Wis.-Stevens Point 4:16.57 1
9 Jared Brandenburg SR Wis.-River Falls 4:16.86
-- Patrick Grimes JR Amherst DNF