EUGENE, OREGON - Iona University men's outdoor track senior Damien Dilcher became the first Gael in seven years to earn First Team All-America honors with his fifth place performance in the 2024 NCAA Championship 1500-meter final at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. Dilcher was the highest finisher among the five competitors from the East region and the first to earn points for the Gaels in the 1500 at the outdoor championship in 21 years.

THE RUNDOWN

All 12 runners completed the first 1,100 meters within a second of each other with Dilcher in 11th place entering the bell lap. The Maroon & Gold senior made an incredible kick on the home stretch to move up six places. He ran the final 400 meters in 53.02, the third fastest split in the race. Dilcher finished with a time of 3:40.24.
 
Washington junior Joe Waskom took the lead in the final few steps of the race to win the race by .09 seconds with a 3:39.48. Dilcher crossed .76 seconds after the race winner. Oregon's Eliott Cook was second, Wisconsin's Adam Spencer was third and Northern Arizona's Colin Sahlman was fourth.

IONA HISTORY

Dilcher is the program's first First Team All-America honoree on the outdoor track since Chartt Miller finished sixth in the 5,000-meter event and Gilbert Kirui the same placing at 10,000-meters at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
 
It was Iona's highest individual finish in an NCAA outdoor final since Leonard Korir earned the national title in the 5k and bronze medal in the 10k in 2011.
 
Dilcher joins a hallowed list of Gaels that finished in the top five at outdoor NCAAs since the turn of the century that includes Korir (2011, 5k/10k), Andrew Ledwith (2009, 5k, 5th), Tim Bayley (2007, 800, 5th & 2006, 800, 2nd) and Richard Kiplagat 2006, 5k, 3rd).
 
In 2003, Kiplagat was the last to earn points at the outdoor NCAAs in the 1,500-meter event.

THAT'S A WRAP

The effort completes the 2023-24 athletics season for the Maroon & Gold and historic campaign and career for Dilcher.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona University athletics on all social media platforms:
Iona Gaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates).
Iona Cross Country/Track: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.