MYRTLE BEACH, SC. – The Pomona-Pitzer men's track and field team made their way to a 12th place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships over the weekend. Bennett Booth-Genthe highlighted the Championships for the Sagehens as he finished as the National Runner Up in the 800m while the Sagehens also earned All-American honors in the 1500m and 3000m steeplechase. The Sagehens did well to manage the weather delays as local storms brought many interruptions and schedule changes on the final day of the competition. Overall, Pomona-Pitzer finished in a tie for 12th place as a team with 16 points.
 
Saturday Results
Pomona-Pitzer started the day with an All-American performance from Colin Kirkpatrick in the 1500m. The senior ran a tactical but honest pace, splitting a 48.52 in the opening 300m, sitting in ninth in the opening lap. Kirkpatrick jumped two spots over the next 800m, splitting a 2:56.45 to sit in seventh at the bell lap. Kirkpatrick closed in 55.80 for the final 400m, making a notable push down the home stretch to pass four competitors in a bunched group to take third place with a time of 3:52.25. 
 
Bennett Booth-Genthe earned a National Runner Up finish in the 800m, dropping a 54.57 in the opening lap before closing in 54.32, good for a 1:48.89 and a silver trophy for the shelf. Booth-Genthe's race was tightly contested as the top five finishers were separated by just over one second with Booth-Genthe just .24 seconds off first place. 
 
The Sagehens closed the NCAA Championships with the duo of Lucas Florsheim and Derek Fearon in the 5000m. Florsheim led for much of the opening 3400m, leading the pack to a 9:50.96 split with one mile to go. From there, Florsheim began to fade slightly with Derek Fearon making a late push to the top. Fearon sat in the 19th spot at the 3k mark but jumped into 14th with a mile to go and later pushed into ninth heading into the bell lap. Fearon crossed the line in 14:25.02 to take 10th with Florsheim crossing in 14:47.80 to take 19th place overall.
 
Friday Results
In the 100m, Chris Taylor made his NCAA Championship debut, finishing in 10th place overall after running a 10.53 second race with a 0.7 m/s tail wind. In the 800m prelims, Bennett Booth-Genthe earned an automatic qualifying spot after winning his heat in 1:51.99. Oscar Roaring just narrowly missed the Championship final, finishing in 11th place overall with a time of 1:52.29. 
 
Cameron Hatler earned the first All-American honor of the weekend for the Sagehens, earning a seventh place finish in the 3000m steeplechase. Hatler started the race in 7th at the first 200m split (39.73s) before briefly dropping into ninth place for a 1200m stretch. Hatler was able to fight back into All-American position at the 1800m mark, holding his seventh place spot through the finish line, crossing in 9:05.38. 
 
Michaela Jones also made her NCAA Championship debut this season, competing in the 800m a week after setting the program record to qualify. Jones went out in 1:05.01 and closed in 1:07.73, finishing in 2:12.73 overall, good for a 15th place finish. 
 
Thursday Results
Just a week after qualifying for the NCAA Championships, the Sagehens 4 x 100m relay crew of Harrison Brown, Gavin Doig, Sam Butler, and Chris Taylor turned in a 14th place performance, combining for a time of 41.28 seconds in their NCAA Championship debut.
 
In the 1500m, the top-four finishers in each heat earned the automatic qualifying spot into the finals. Colin Kirkpatrick ran a strategic race to start this year's Championships, going out in 50.04 for the first 300m to sit in eighth before surging into first place at the 1100m mark with a time of 2:54.25. Kirkpatrick crossed the line in 3:52.55 in the end with a 58.30 for his last 400m, finishing in fourth place overall to secure a spot in the 1500m final. 
 
In the 3k steeplechase, the Sagehens lone representative was Cameron Hatler, who entered the weekend with a personal best of 8:56.75. The junior started the first three laps of the race floating around 10th place before moving into third around the halfway point in the event. Hatler continued to hold steady before using a 1:10.84 on his last lap to take third in his heat with a time of 9:06.49, earning an automatic spot in the final. 
 
Derek Fearon competed in the 10,000m final on Thursday evening, fighting from start to finish to close out Day One of the NCAA Championships. Fearon sat outside the top 15 for the opening mile of the race but began to make moves from there, climbing into ninth place before settling back to around the 15th place position. Over the course of the last two miles, Fearon managed to work his way into 10th place, holding that position for the rest of the race, crossing the line in 31:11.66 to finish in 10th overall.