Final Results

Kevin McCarthy proved his versatility once more, grabbing a third-place finish in the 1500-meter run at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The six-time All-American was one of seven Little Giants competing in Saturday finals at Clarmont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Claremont, California.

McCarthy toured the oval in 3:56.30. Dan Sullivan from Wisconsin-Stevens Point won the race with a time of 3:55.38, with Jack Deichert from Hamline finishing second (3:55.86). The race got off to a slow start, which forced McCarthy into the middle of the pack — a position he was forced to fight through before getting to the lead group.

View photos from Saturday's finals here.

"We went out really slow as a group, at about a 4:30 mile pace," McCarthy said. "Since I started in the second spot, I didn't get out fast enough and got boxed in from all sides — front, back, all the way around. When it was time for me to get going at the 800-meter mark, I had to get out, back, out again, and around a whole group of runners. That was frustrating. The guy that won was in the perfect place at the perfect time and took full advantage of it."

McCarthy picked up All-America honors in three different championships this year. He finished sixth at the cross country nationals before winning the mile run at the indoor championships in March. He also finished fifth in the steeplechase in 2011 and sixth in the 2010 indoor 800-meter run.

"Kevin has enjoyed a tremendous career here at Wabash," Assistant Coach Roger Busch said. "It's been fun to work with him from a young, inexperienced runner to his becoming a national champion and a dominating athlete in so many different areas. He had a tough race today. It was very similar to his indoor 800-meter run his junior year that kept him from the finals. There was just too much traffic to fight through to get to the front of the pack. He had to use most of his energy fighting to the front, and by that time the two leaders had too big a lead."

McCarthy was joined by Jake Waterman as a national champion. Waterman won the 800-meter run later in the day, giving Wabash two national track and field champions in the same season for the first time in school history.

For McCarthy, the moments after his final race as a Wabash athlete provided an opportunity to reflect upon his career.

"It was kind of cool before the start of the race to hear the announcer say my name," McCarthy said. "I hear him say 'McCarthy is an All-American in this and this and this. He's one of the most versitile runners in Division III history.' Now I can take a step back and realize that from not even being a varsity athlete in high school to coming here to Wabash what it's been like reaching all these achievements. None of this could have happened without the help of all of my coaches and the staff at Wabash. Out of everything I've done at Wabash, I think running cross country and track and field has done more to help my self-confidence and my personal growth than anything else I've ever done in my life."

While McCarthy was running his final race, senior Daniel Ambrosio and junior Evan Groninger were each competing in their first NCAA championship event — the javelin throw. Ambrosio entered the meet as the 11th-ranked thrower, which is where he finished with a mark of 59.27meters (194 feet, 5 inches). Groninger managed a top throw of 53.68meters (176 feet, 1 inch) to finish 19th overall.

The final race of the evening — the 1600-meter relay — featured nine teams inlcluding Wabash runners Joel Whittington, Waterman, Cole Hruskovich, and John Haley. The foursome just missed a spot on the podium, finishing ninth with a time of 3:16.63.

Wabash tied for 16th as a team with a total of 16 points.

"I'm really proud of all these guys," Head Coach Clyde Morgan said. "We showed Wabash toughness throughout the season and brought it with us to California. We have a hunger now. We only had two seniors out of our nine guys who traveled here. Evan, Ronnie Posthauer, Joel, Cole, and Sean Hildebrand know what it takes to compete at nationals. Just one year ago we were only bringing two guys to indoor nationals. Now we have nine. We need to keep working hard to bring more and more guys to this meet to compete. And the guys that qualified for this championship meet need to be the leaders when we start up again next season."