van Ingen advances to NCAA Outdoor Track Championships in 1,500

Senior Erik van Ingen is once again heading to an NCAA Championship Meet.

The three-time All-American finished second in his heat and 12th overall in the finals of the 1,500 at the NCAA East Regional Track & Field Meet on Saturday evening. His time of 3:48.37 trailed only Rich Peters of Boston University, who won the heat in a time of 3:48.46. The fastest overall time of 3:45.44 was recorded by Andrew Bayer of Indiana in the other heat. The top five finishers in each of the two heats, plus the next two fastest times, advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held at Drake University June 6-9.

“It’s great for Erik to be going back to the NCAA meet,” assistant coach Annette Acuff said. “The pace was pretty slow in his heat through the first 800 but he had a great kick to finish near the top of the heat at the finish.”

van Ingen, who has now qualified for seven NCAA Championship meets, will be making his second straight appearance at the outdoor championships. Last year he placed sixth overall in the 1,500. He is also a three-time NCAA qualifier for the indoor championships, where he placed fifth in the mile in 2011 and seventh this past season. With three career top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships, van Ingen will be seeking his fourth career All-America accolade when he arrives at Drake in two weeks.

In addition to his track & field accomplishments, van Ingen also took part in the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships. His highest finish came in the 2010 meet, where he placed 43rd overall. Only the top 40 finishers, however, earned All-America honors.
In Binghamton’s 11-year NCAA Division I history, van Ingen has advanced to more NCAA Championship events than any other athlete. He is also tied with Rory Quiller for the most NCAA Division I All-America honors. Quiller was also a three-time All-American, placing second in the pole vault at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track Championships, fourth in the 2007 outdoor meet in the same event and then capping his career by winning the NCAA pole vault title at the 2008 indoor championships.

During his illustrious career, Quiller advanced to five NCAA meets. He made the indoor championships in 2005, 2007 and 2008 and the outdoor meet in 2006 and 2007.

Press release and photo provided by BU Athletics