ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Two hundredths of a second may not seem like a lot of time, but for Roberts Wesleyan College junior
Ryan Karker that small slice of time may be enough to send him to the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships next month in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Six days after setting a school record of 1:52 in the 800-meter run at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet in Michigan, Karker ran a 1:51.98 at the Nazareth College Conference Tune-Up at the Golisano Training Center in Rochester.
The race at Grand Valley was run on a 300-meter track and had Karker ranked 37th among contenders for nationals. After running on Nazareth's 200-meter track on Friday night, Karker is ranked 11
th in Division II with one week of competition remaining. The result gives Karker an official converted time of 1:50.42.
The accomplishment is even more special to Karker because he did not even decide to enter the race at Nazareth until earlier in the week. He also had help from teammates
Jaxon Bunting and
Teddy Pintabona, who entered the race as "rabbits" to set a fast pace for Karker before dropping out. The entire Roberts team also came out to support Karker.
"I owe it all to my teammates," said Karker, a business administration major from Greece. "I just followed Jaxon and Teddy and they brought me around pretty good. I honestly couldn't have done it without all of my teammates. If they weren't there, I definitely know that I wouldn't have accomplished what I accomplished."
Karker won the race by nearly six seconds.
Andrew Dorr, Roberts' Director of Cross Country & Track and Field, said that even when rabbits are used to set the pace, it is difficult for athletes to accomplish their goals.
"Nine times out of 10 it doesn't work," Dorr said. "What is special about Ryan is his ability to produce this result in a setting that often doesn't work."
Karker didn't start the season thinking about nationals, but would be more than happy to go if he earns the chance.
"It would just be a cool experience," he said. "Getting to nationals wasn't a goal at the beginning of this year, it kind of popped up after a few good races. It would be great to go there and represent my team and represent Roberts."
