Lenape graduate Kevin Lauer’s 4:16.74 anchor leg gave Rowan a DMR win at the All-Atlantic Championships Friday in Rochester, N.Y.
Lauer’s personal-best split moved Lenape into the lead over second-place Ramapo and anchor Chris Andersen of Ramsey High, who split 4:17.46. Ramapo had a 30-100ths of a second lead going into the 1,600s.
Rowan finished with a 10:06.06 and Ramapo 10:06.49. They rank No. 6 and No. 7 in NCAA Division 3 this winter.
Rowan’s time is a facility record at Nazareth College’s Golisano Center. The previous mark was 10:33.43 by Ithaca last month.
Nick Neville, a junior from South Brunswick, led off with a 3:04.04 split for 1,200 meters and junior Vincent Delle from Old Bridge ran 400 meters in 50.74. Freshman Joe DeVito from Jackson Liberty split 1:54.57 to erase most of Ramapo’s lead, and Lauer, a sophomore and 2018 Lenape grad, did the rest.
Rowan ran within 6 1/2 seconds of the school record of 9:58.49 set two years ago by Nick Nocco of Southern Regional, Justin Bishop of Mainland Regional, Neville and Kevin Veltre of Brick Memorial when they placed fourth at NCAA Division 3 nationals in Birmingham, Ala.
Rowan’s trails only Williams [9:54.97], Washington [9:56.14], Tufts [10:00.29], North Central [10:05.07], Wisconsin-Whitewater [10:05.51] and SUNY Geneseo [10:05.62] on the NCAA Division 3 list.
Qualifying marks for NCAA Division 3 Championships must be made by Saturday.
The NCAA Division 3 Championships are scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday at Guilford College in Winston-Salem, N.C.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 