34th-Place Finish Earns Dooney Prestigious Honor
TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—Yale men's cross country team junior Kevin Dooney did exactly what he set out to do on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., placing in the top 40 at the NCAA Division I Championships and thus earning All-American honors. Thanks in large part to a strong start that saw him in the top 30 at the race's halfway-mark, Dooney finished Saturday's 10k race in 34th place, with a time of 30:51.4.
Lucas Meyer '05 was the last Yale runner to earn All-American honors when he finished 18th at Nationals in 2004. Dooney qualified for Nationals for the second straight year by finishing third overall at the NCAA Division I Northeast Regional Championships (the best showing by a Yale runner at the meet since Meyer himself finished third in 2003 and 2004). He was one of only five Ivy League runners to earn a spot at Nationals this year.
Dooney approached Nationals with the goal of placing in the top 40 in order to earn All-American honors and will leave Terre Haute more than pleased with his performance. Prior to Saturday's race, Head Men's Cross Country Coach Paul Harkins lent Dooney great praise, claiming that, if Dooney were able to finish in the top 40, he would have to be considered "one of Yale's best" runners of all time.
In addition to finishing first on the team in every race in which he has competed this season, Dooney has now earned first team All-Ivy, All-Region and All-American honors. Although Dooney may potentially run some competitive races on his own outside of Yale during the next month, he will soon be turning his attention to the upcoming track and field season, when he will look to continue to excel in the distance events as he has throughout his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Report by Zach Schloss '15, Yale Sports Publicity
