TOWSON, Md. – Junior Dillon Farrell of the Moravian College men's track & field team has been selected the Landmark Conference Track Athlete of the Week after his near-record breaking performance on Saturday.

Farrell placed second in the 3,000-meter run at the rain-soaked Lafayette College 8-Way Meet on Saturday with a time of 8:48.51. The junior runner's time was just under a second away from breaking the school record of 8:47.57 set by James Hilary at Lafayette in 1998, and was also the second-fastest time in Landmark Conference history.

"Going into the weekend we were hoping to set a new school record in the 3K," head coach Jesse Baumann said. "The weather, which was already less-than-ideal all day, got even worse for the 3K as the rain and wind picked up. We adjusted the strategy to just stay near the front of the pack, try to not lead into the wind, and if a good time and school record came from that, it would have been great."

Farrell stuck to plan, but fell just short of the record-seeking goal.

"As it turned out Dillon just missed the school record, but he raced well, had a good finishing kick, and based on how he felt during the race, we feel good about where his fitness is right now headed into the rest of the season," Baumann said.

His time of 8:48.51 is the second fastest in conference history, only slower than Ceth Parker of Juniata, who set the Landmark record in the 3K in 2012 with a time of 8:41.42.

Farrell shaved more than 14 seconds off his personal record in the event. His Track Athlete of the Week award comes after five Cross Country Athlete of the Week laurels from the fall to go with Cross Country Performer of the Year and Indoor Track Athlete of the Year honors from the conference office during the 2013-14 seasons.