By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
York High School alum Eric Rutherford made his mark at the recent NCAA Division III National Championships for men’s cross country.
Rutherford, a senior at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, earned Division III All-American honors after placing 36th at the meet held in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Rutherford covered the course in 24:38.8 to earn his first career All-American award. Rutherford improved 226 places from last season, finishing as the eighth runner from the Midwest region (3 spots higher than his regional finish) and was the fifth-best finisher from Loras’ conference, which was a six-spot improvement from this year’s league meet.
Rutherford helped Loras outperform its No. 28 national ranking by placing 24th as a team.
“He ran a perfect race to become an All-American,” Loras coach Ethan Adlfinger told the school’s athletics website. “It’ll be an example I use for athletes in the future on how to perfectly race the national meet.”
Earlier, Rutherford took 12th at the NCAA Division III Midwest regional championships in Waverly, Iowa with a time of 24:40.2 to earn all-region accolades. Rutherford helped Loras take fourth as a team to earn the NCAA Spartanburg finals
Rutherford surged from 28th at the first split of the region meet to break into the top 12, overtaking several of the region’s top runners.
At the American Rivers Conference meet hosted by Loras, Rutherford earned all-conference honors, posting a 16-second personal best time of 24:25.8 to move into third on the Loras’ all-time list.
In 2024, Rutherford finished 209th at the Division III national meet with a time of 25:51.0, was 50th at the Midwest region meet with a time of 25:52.1 and was 23rd at the American Rivers Conference meet with an all-conference time of 25:20.9, which was his season-best time as a junior. He finished 262nd in the country at the NCAA finals as a sophomore.
Rutherford, an ARC all-academic pick this fall and a United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-academic selection last year, is an accounting major at Loras.