Underdog Fairley secures runner-up finish nationally

Central College

GENEVA, OHIO — Mark Fairley (junior, Dubuque) went from last chance qualifier to national runner-up in the course of 10 days, as the Central College men’s track and field runner took second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday.

The top-eight finish gives Fairley his first All-American honor, and the program’s second of the weekend after Logan Mulford’s (senior, Mount Pleasant) seventh-place finish in the high jump on Friday.

Fairley blazed the track in a school record 9:06.33 in the finals Saturday, his fourth steeplechase in three weeks. Coach Joe Dunham cited his preparations over the last 24 hours as critical.

“He ran really smart today,” Dunham said. “We felt really good about our approach to the race. We tried something new in terms of getting his body ready and it was really good for him.

A superb late charge by Ian Ewers of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse gave him the national title in 9:05.58

“Mark had a shot to be a national champion with 100 meters to go,” Dunham said. “He ran his best right where you want do it, the national meet. He handled the pressure well and put it all together.”

Entering the weekend as the 19th qualifier, Fairley ran a 19:18.61 in Thursday’s prelims and earned the No. 4 seed in the finals. He had to run a 9:12.07 on the final day of qualifying to even earn a trip to Ohio.

“It was fun to have a lot of coaches come up to me after the prelims and tell me that Mark was running well and he was going to have a shot,” Dunham said. “They were right.”

Fairley will be among the top returning competitors next year in the event, as Ewers and two other top-five finishers are graduating seniors. This year is not necessarily an indicator for next year according to Dunham.

“You just never know from year to year,” he said. “Last year’s national champion was in the field this year and he got fourth. Our focus now will shift to our summer training and getting ready for cross country.

“This was a great way to cap off the season.”

Posted by on May 28 2017. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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