MASON, Ohio --- Moravian College senior Dillon Farrell made the most of third and final trip to the NCAA Division III National Cross Country Championships as he claimed All-America honors for the first time in his career by placing 17th at the 2014 meet hosted by Wilmington College at the Golf Center at King's Island Saturday.
Farrell turned in a school-record time of 24:24.9 that had him 17th of the 280 runners in the 8,000-meter race, and it gives him the top six times in school history and 10 of the top 12 times in the Greyhounds' record books.
"We learned a lot the last two NCAA cross country meets. You can't expect to make up a lot of ground, but you have to be patient too," explained Head Coach Jesse Baumann. "If you want to finish 20th, you better be within 10 spots of that at all points in the race, but do it as efficiently as you can. Dillon did just that today.
"He was in about 30th place through the first mile, which fortunately still kept him close to the rest of the field," continued Baumann. "The course was really muddy from some morning rain, thawing ground, and melting snow, so it would be tough to make up a lot of ground, so from mile one-to-two, he slid into 20th place. At mile three, he was right around 15th-18th place, and going into the last 400 meters he was kicking for 15th, but the other runners were a little quicker."
Farrell becomes Moravian's first All-American in men's cross country as the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association awards the top 35 finishers at the NCAA meet with All-America honors. In his first national meet in 2012, Farrell was 109th of 276 runners and his race last fall was cut short as he fell ill during the meet and had to drop out.
"What it means to be an All-American is something that can't really be described," stated Farrell. "When you chase something for long enough, you lose sight of why you started in the first place. I think that's what happened over the last couple years. I've been dreaming about being an All-American since I was 16 and when that didn't happen over the last few years I began forgetting that I started running because I love the thrill of competition. Coach Jesse saw this change in me over the last few years and a few weeks ago we talked to about it, realizing that's been what was holding me back.
"So I spent the last few weeks re-falling in love with this sport and when it came down to it, that's what led to me being an All-American," Farrell continued. "To be an All-American you can't just have talent, you need to want it and give everything you have for it and I did. The last piece of the puzzle for me was having fun and I found that piece with coach Jesse's help. Being an All-American to me is about putting all of this together and representing my family, my team, my school, and most importantly myself. Running is everything to me, this award is incredible but I do not plan on stopping here. I've got 5 more months here and I plan on utilizing every minute of it to accomplish things never before done at Moravian."
Farrell is a four-time All-Mideast Region performer including Freshman All-Region honors in 2012 and top 35 finishes the last three years.
"Dillon has a tremendous amount of talent, but something we've learned over the years is that success isn't just a predictable linear pattern," commented Baumann. "Both he and I needed to adapt and work together on training strategy, goals, race plans, and a number of other facets that all play into being successful in this sport. Today was very gratifying because it wasn't just about going out and running fast. It was the product of a process. All American has been the goal for a while, but certainly since 2012, and it's great he finally achieved that. He is the first male in our program to earn an All-America honors at a distance more than 800 meters, so this is great for our program too."
After a few weeks off, Farrell will jump right back into action as part of Moravian's Indoor Track & Field Team. He was the 2013 Landmark Conference Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after winning both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters on the same day last February.
