Complete Results

Louisville, Ky. - Allegheny seniors Dan Cheung and Randy Violette each turned in All-America performances to lead the Gators to a 16th-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Division III National Championship, hosted by Spaulding University at E.B. Sawyer Park.

Cheung, the 2016 North Coast Athletic Conference and Great Lakes Region Runner of the Year, wrapped up a storybook season by earning his second All-America honor in as many seasons, as he placed fifth in the 280-runner field, the second-highest individual finish at nationals in program history.  Hobbled by injury during the 2015 postseason, Violette earned redemption by placing 17th to earn his first career All-America accolade in his first career appearance in the NCAA Championship.

Following the senior tandem, junior Carter Smith was a third Gator to place in the top-100, as he finished 86th, with junior John Hughes (125th) and sophomore Matt Svetz (236th) rounding out the Gator five.

Cheung, who also earned All-America honors at the 2015 NCAA Championship with a 33rd-place finish, took 40 seconds off of his time from a season ago to finish with a time of 24:18, also 35 seconds ahead of his previous career mark.  His fifth-place finish is the second highest in program history, behind only Bobby Over's runner-up finish in 2012, while the time of 24:18 is the fastest 8-kilometer time recorded in Allegheny program history.

Recently named both First Team All-NCAC and All-Region, Violette cracked the 25-minute mark for just the third time in his career, finishing in 24:41.  His 17th-place performance is just the ninth top-20 individual NCAA finish in program history.

Cheung's fifth-place finish and Violette's 17th-place effort is the highest one-two finish for the Gators at the NCAA Championship in team history, while it marks just the third time in team history in which Allegheny produced two All-Americans (2015 - Logan Steiner/Cheung; 2009 - Jeramie Parker (11th)/Chris Marker (14th); 2006 - Ryan Place (6th)/Marco Dozzi (23rd).

Another 2016 All-NCAC and All-Region honoree, Smith posted a final time of 25:20, the second-best 8K effort of his career, behind only his 14th-place time of 25:11 at the Great Lakes Regionals a week prior.  Hughes' covered the course in 25:53, while Svetz finished in a time of 26:27.

A pair of seniors competing in their final cross country races completed the Gator seven, as Emmett Barr turned in a time of 27:27, and Justin Koch 27:46.

After placing 26th at the 2015 NCAA Championship, the Gators benefited greatly from their championship experience a season ago to vault 10 places in the final standings.  The Gators also exceeded their predicted finish by three spots, as they were ranked 19th in the pre-championship United States Track & Field and Cross Country Championship national poll.

The 16th-place national finish wraps up an extremely successful 2016 campaign for the Gators, who claimed their second consecutive NCAC championship before placing second at the Great Lakes Regional Championship on Nov. 12.  In addition to Cheung's conference and regional titles, Violette and Smith were both named All-NCAC and All-Region, while Hughes, Svetz, and Barr were each All-NCAC honorees.  First-year head coach Ben Mourer, a 2007 Allegheny grad, was voted the NCAC Coach of the Year.

North Central College won the 2016 NCAA team championship, finishing with just 60 team points as each of its top five runners placed 17th or higher.  Wisconsin-Platteville's Ian LaMere won his second straight individual title, turning in a time of 23:40 to win by 29 seconds. 

The Gators have now competed in 12 NCAA Division III Championships in the past 15 seasons, and have finished 16th or higher seven times.