GENEVA, Ohio - George Kruger earned second-team All-America honors in the javelin, and Colin Scanlon and the 4x400 relay team of Scanlon, Aiden Owens, Jaden Rattay and Ellis DelVecchio through to Saturday's finals on the first day of the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships. 

Kruger qualified for nationals on the last possible day at the Redlands Final Qualifier last week, moving up from 24th in the nation to 12th. He ended up 16th at nationals, which earned him the final spot on the second-team All-America list (the top eight receive first-team honors, and the 9-16 finishers are on the second team). Sophia Laudi was 18th in the javelin for the Athenas, as the throwing program sent three to nationals, with Kaden Cassidy still to compete in the hammer on Saturday. 

Scanlon won his heat of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.69, which was the seventh best in prelims and earned him one of the nine spots in Saturday's finals. Winning his heat automatically qualified him for the finals, which he did by .24 seconds, as he was able to relax a little on the homestretch. He ran a 51.63 in the SCIAC Championships, and the top time in prelims was a 51.99, which puts him in position to contend for the top of the podium on Saturday. 

The 4x400 team team was able to end up in eighth in prelims and earn their way into the finals with a time of 3:13.28. Scanlon anchored the team, with Rattay running the first leg, Owens the second and DelVecchio the third. The Stags were off the pace of the blistering 3:09.77 they ran at the Franson Last Chance Meet at Azusa Pacific to qualify, the second-fastest time in program history, but they did enough to earn a spot in the finals, where they will try to earn a spot on the podium. 

Before Saturday's finals, a few more athletes will be in action tomorrow for prelims, as Ellis DelVecchio and Pierce Clark will be in the 800 meters, and Josephine Jett will compete in both the 100 hurdles and the 100 meters for the Athenas to try to advance through to Saturday.