GENEVA, Ohio – Cornell's Isaac vanWestrienen stayed connected with the lead pack early and never wavered during an impressive all-America performance in the men's 10000-meter run at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on a chilly Thursday night at SPIRE Institute.
 
VanWestrienen placed third in the 22-man field with a time of 29:23.61 in a memorable NCAA outdoor debut. The junior star crossed the line fourth, although later bumped up one spot when apparent champion Nathan Tassey of Roger Williams was disqualified.
 
At is turned out, vanWestrienen finished only three seconds behind champion Braden Nicholson of North Central (29:20.59). SUNY Geneseo's Charlie Wilson took runner-up in 29:21.43.
 
Running fifth with 800 meters to go, vanWestrienen kicked it in down the stretch to secure the program's highest outdoor all-America finish since 1992. John Martin (shot put) and Aaron Stang (3000 steeplechase) both placed third in their respective events more than three decades ago.
 
VanWestrienen hung steady in the top three for the first 5000 meters. He moved into the second position for six consecutive laps before heading into the final 1600.
 
Coupled with a fifth-place effort in the 5000 at NCAA Indoors, vanWestrienen becomes the first Cornell male athlete to earn all-America indoor and outdoor honors in the same year since 2010 (James Wohrley – pentathlon, decathlon).
 
And vanWestrienen is not done yet. He is seeded seventh in Saturday's 5000, scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
On Friday, junior Hailey Carolan competes in the women's high jump at 10:30 a.m. She enters with the ninth-best qualifying mark.