June 14, 2003

Sophomore David Mitchell (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) became the final Miami track and field athlete to finish the 2003 season as he placed 15th at the NCAA 5,000-meter Championship final on early Sunday morning in Sacramento, Calif. Mitchell followed junior Andrea Kremer (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard), junior Lauren Collins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) and senior Brian Godsey (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East), who all competed at the NCAA Championships earlier in the week.

Mitchell placed ninth in his heat during the preliminaries, to earn the final spot into the 5,000-meter run final. Mitchell ran the race in 14:10.20 on Thursday and 14:15.67 in the final. Mitchell was more than nine seconds below his personal best on Thursday and 14 seconds off his best pace during the final.

Mitchell's NCAA National qualifying time came when he ran the school's fourth-fastest time in the 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 14:01.20 at the Penn Relays on April 24. This season, Mitchell has already been tabbed as an academic all-MAC selection in outdoor track and field.

Mitchell is not new to academic and athletic honors as he also recently was named to the Academic All-MAC team for track and field. In addition, he was tabbed MAC Track and Field Athlete of the Week and MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week during the track and field season. At Cincinnati, Mitchell ran the school's third-fastest time in the 1,500-meter run in 3:46.86. Michell was second-team all-MAC along with academic all-MAC in cross country earlier this year. Heading into the MAC Championships, Mitchell held the third fastest time in the 3,000-meter run and second fastest time in the 5,000-meter run and the 1,500-meter run.