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Five different Harper College men's track and field athletes earned All-American status at the 2016 NJCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship hosted by Holyoke Community College at Westfield State University. As a result, the Hawks placed third as a team and had two athletes, Laith Kanan (/Palatine) and Adam Brauer (Palatine, lll./Palatine), who were double national champions.
Harper scored 104 points in the two-day meet to finish third, only a half point behind second place Home Rowan College at Gloucester County (104.5 points). Suffolk County Community College won the program's first national title with 135.5 points.
Kanan and Brauer, both sophomores, shined in their respective events. Kanan won the hammer throw in dominant fashion. His best toss of 49.20m (161'5") was better than second place Dalton Gorinshek of Mohawk Valley CC by 4.5 meters (44.70m). In the shot put, Kanan recorded a throw of 14.31m (46'11 ½") to take first place over Devonte Johnson of Montgomery College (14.25m). Kanan also placed third in the discus with a toss of 38.52m (126'4").
Brauer won both the 5k and 10k. In the 5k, he clocked a time of 16:44:43 to take first place ahead of teammates Will Troman (/Streamwood) and T.J. Paton (Fairfield, Calif./Hersey). Troman ran a 16:49.30 (second place, All-American, followed by Paton at 16:55.50 as the Hawks swept the top three positions for the first time in school history at nationals. At 10,000 meters, Brauer finished in 34:33.03 to win the race by over a minute. Paton placed second (All-American) in 35:35.95, and Eddie Lamas (Schaumburg, Ill. /Schaumburg) scored points by placing seventh in 37:49.66.
Eric Theis (Palatine, Ill. /Palatine) turned in an All-American effort in the 400-meter hurdles. After qualifying third in the prelims in 56.98 seconds, Theis placed second in the finals in a time of 55.21 seconds.
In the jumping events, Keyshawn Brown (Mount Prospect, Ill. /Elk Grove) performed well in both the triple jump and long jump. In the triple, his best leap of 13.67m (44'10 ¼") was good enough for fourth place and five points. In the long jump, Brown recorded a mark of 6.58m (21'7 ¼") for fifth place and four points. Dan Kim earned valuable points in the pole vault as he cleared 3.43m (11'3") for fourth place.
Assistant coach Dan Lowry also got the most out of his other throwers, Nick Pavlovic and Brandon Soriano (Elk Grove Village, Ill. /Elk Grove). Pavlovic placed fifth in the shot put (13.03m, 42'9") and eighth in the discus (34.65m, 113'8"). while Soriano was fourth in the shot put (13.56m, 44'6").
Other noteworthy performances included ninth and 10th place finishes in the long jump and high jump from Nick Dorsen (Palatine, Ill. /Palatine) and an 11th place finish for Tyler Block (/Conant) in the long jump. The 4x400m relay squad of Block, Theis, Dorsen, and Ricky Ruano (/Palatine) placed ninth in 3:31.22. The 4x100m relay team of Block, Theis, Andre McGraw, and Dorsen finished 10th in 44.35 seconds.
