MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Graduate student Mike Olson (Sutton, Mass.) capped off a decorated career after finishing third to earn First Team All-America honors in the 800-meters at the NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening.
 
Olson began the finals off with a quick burst placing him right behind the lead runner through the first lap. From there he pushed himself with the moving leaders to secure third overall in 1:49.02. He trailed the race-leader, who broke the facility record, by roughly half a second. Olson's performance is tied for the second-best finish in program history at the national championships.
 
Olson entered the weekend as the second seed with a time of 1:48.72, which he ran two weeks ago at the Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza. His momentum never wavered as he won his heat yesterday in the preliminary heats with a time of 1:51.11 to be the top qualifying time to enter today's final.
 
First Team All-American honors is awarded to finishers in the top-eight. Olson will hoist the third place All-America trophy for what can be noted as one of his best showings of his career.
 
Olson will join a well-established who earned multiple All-American awards as he claimed Second Team All-America during the Indoor National Championships earlier this year. He ends his career with first and second team All-America nods, seven program records, five total national championship appearances, multiple conference championship titles and a D-III New England title, among many other notable accomplishments.