Junior Jordan Dean earns All-America honors with sixth place finish in 400-meter dash on final day of NCAA III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships

By Tim Glon

| 2024 NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships site |

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Junior Jordan Dean (Cleveland/Villa Angela Saint Joseph) earned All-America honors by finishing sixth in the finals of the 400-meter dash to lead Ohio Northern on the third and final day of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships on a warm and wet Saturday evening.

The Basics

• Record: Ohio Northern (30-6 Overall)
• Venue: Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium - Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Meet Results

• Ohio Northern scored 11 points in the meet.

Top ONU Performers

• Dean finished sixth in :47.36 to earn his second All-America honor in the event.
• On Friday, Dean won his heat in the prelims of the 400-meter dash in :47.13.
• He qualified automatically for the finals by winning his heat, which was the second of three that featured 22 runners total.
• His :47.13 was the third fastest time in the prelims.

Notables

• Competition was delayed twice during the day due to weather, for a total of nearly three hours of delay.
• His race was scheduled to start at 5:20 pm, but did not get underway until 8:30 pm.
• Dean is the school record holder in the 400 (:46.47) and entered the meet as the No. 3 seed.
• He earned All-America honors in the event a year ago by finishing eighth at the Outdoor Championships in :48.03.
• Senior All-American Keegan Digby (Bowling Green/Otsego) earned the fifth All-America honor of his career and shattered his own school record in the shot put with a toss of 18.08 meters on his final throw as a Polar Bear on Friday. 
• Digby is now a five-time All-American in the event and held the previous school record of 17.46 meters.
• He was third at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships and was the No. 5 seed entering the meet.
• On Thursday, the 4x100 team of fifth-year senior Hunter Kesler (Oakwood/Paulding), Dean, sophomore Tyrese Barker (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) and freshman C.J. Boothby (Milford/Clermont Northeastern) finished fifth of eight teams in their heat and 11th of 16 overall in :40.92. 
• The 4x400 team of junior Ross Schlatter (Curtice/Genoa), senior Trey Myers (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne), Kesler and Dean were eighth in their heat and 16th overall in 3:22.23.
• The 4x100 team was the No. 6 seed in the 4x100 relay after running a school-record :40.52 in the regular season.
• The 4x400 team was the No. 10 seed nationally in the 4x400 relay with a school-record time of 3:12.41.
• Kesler suffered a leg injury during his opening leg of the 4x100 relay, which hampered the Polar Bears in the 4x400 relay later in the evening.
• The top 22 individuals and top 16 relays nationally during the regular season qualified for the NCAA III Championships.
• The top 8 finishers in each event earn All-America honors.
• Head Coach Jason Maus is in his 15th year at Ohio Northern and is 565-154-2 for men's outdoor track and field for a winning percentage of .783.

Up Next

• Season Complete.