Sports
Liam Danitz and Sara Schermerhorn Sprint to All-America First Team Track Honors
Story Links Hope College sprinters Liam Danitz and Sara Schermerhorn ran away with All-America honors for the second time this season. The two juniors raced to medal-earning honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, near Cleveland, to […]
Hope College sprinters Liam Danitz and Sara Schermerhorn ran away with All-America honors for the second time this season.
The two juniors raced to medal-earning honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, near Cleveland, to add to the national accolades they claimed at the indoor championships in March.
Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights HS) finished fifth in the men’s 200-meter final, clocking a time of 21.33 seconds. The exercise science major took seventh in the 200 at the indoor finals.
Schermerhorn (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) placed sixth in the women’s 400-meter final, posting a school-record time of 54.36 seconds. The exercise science major recorded a seventh-place finish in the event at the indoor championships.
On Thursday, Schermerhorn earned All-America Second Team distinction for the second time in the women’s 200 meters with an 11th-place finish.
Head coach Kevin Cole praised both runners for their performances amidst challenging competition and conditions.
“Sara was really focused today. That field, it could have been anybody’s race; it was fast. Sara crushed the school record on less than an ideal day. She rose to the level of the competition,” Cole said. “Liam’s race was everything we expected. It was just close, fractions of a second except for [the winner]. At nationals, you realize it’s not about time, it’s just trying to beat the people you’re racing against. Liam beat most of them.”
Danitz became the Flying Dutchmen’s first 200-meter All-American for the second time in as many NCAA Championships.
The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse’s Sam Blaskowski repeated as national champion after clocking a time of 20.35 seconds. Danitz crossed the finish line just 0.18 seconds after national runner-up Kevin Arthur of Saint John’s University (Minnesota).
Schermerhorn became the Flying Dutch’s two-time First Team All-American in the 400 meters.
Sam Carchidi of Emory University (Georgia) captured the national title with a personal-best time of 53.94 seconds. Schermerhorn was one of seven runners in the field to record PR runs.
Gallery: (5-24-2025) NCAA Division III Outdoor Track/Field