WINNECONNE, Wis.— Franciscan University of Steubenville experienced history in the making Saturday afternoon as junior cross country runner, Bill Jones, competed at the NCAA Division III National Championship. Since Franciscan earned full Div. III membership this summer, Jones is the first ever Franciscan cross country runner or student-athlete to advance this far in competition.
Competing against the nation's top runners on Saturday, Jones placed 115th out of 279 runners at the championship with a time of 25:24.32 at the Lake Breeze Golf Course. He averaged a mile pace of five minutes and seven seconds.
He qualified for the NCAA championship at the 2011 NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional meet on November 12, running the 8K in 24:50. This was a career best for Jones and a first for Franciscan cross country.
Jones noted that he didn't feel as if he had his strongest race at the championship. "I wasn't feeling well through the entire race," he said. "So my place was slower than expected."
Ben Sathre of University of St. Thomas (Minn.) claimed the individual national title, completing the race in 23:44.27.
Despite any misgivings Jones may have about his race, his season proved his talent. He dominated the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference the entire 2011 season as runner of the week five times, clinched the individual conference title, earned runner of the week in the Eastern College Athletic Conference three times, competed at the national championship, and was named runner of the year by the AMCC.
Jones was also named All-Conference and earned All-American honors at the regional meet at Oberlin.
Jones will return to competition in the fall 2012, and he already has his eye on breaking more records and having an even better showing at the national championship.
