Claremont, Calif. -- May 24, 2012 -- Brian Fuller topped the men's competition for Springfield College on Day 1 of the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships today at the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in southern California. Fuller placed 12th in the preliminaries of the 3000-meter steeplechase, and moves on to Saturday's final in that event.He will be the only male competitor from SC who will be competing from here on in. The 3000-meter steeplechase will take place Saturday at 1:30 pm (Pacific time).
Fuller, a grad student from Ludlow, Mass., ran a time of 9:16.12, which had him finishing seventh in Heat #2 and 12th overall. The top five from each heat advanced, plus the next best four in terms of time.
His running mate, junior Zach Pietras, also of Ludlow, Mass. ran in the first heat with a time of 9:54.91, and was unable to qualify for the championship race.
In other events today, senior Kevin Coyle (Bradford, N.H.), who won a national title indoors in this event as a junior, finished 13th in the long jump. His best leap was 23-feet, 1 3/4-inches, which placed him seventh in his heat. Kevin missed placing in the top eight by about eight inches. Thus, Coyle's fabulous career is over.
The only other SC competitor was junior Ryan O'Connell (Middleboro, Mass.) in the 1500 meters. Ryan finished 18th of 20 participants overall with a time of 3:59.75. He was 10th of 10 in his heat. In order to move on to Saturday's final, he would have needed to finish either in the top four in either of the two heats or within the next best four in terms of time.
On the women's side, senior Kelly Curtis (Princeton, NJ.) and junior Colleen Brague (Smithfield, R.I.) are still alive in the heptathon (Curtis) and the javelin.
Ken Klatka, just inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame in October, 2011, enters his 37th season as head coach of the men’s track and field program in 2012-2013. He ranks among the nation’s most successful coaches, with an overall record of 442 wins, 144 losses, and two ties for an impressive .753 winning percentage. Under his direction, Kevin Coyle '12 won the 2011 Division III Indoor Long Jump National Championship.
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