LAWRENCE, Kan.  – Senior Chris Zirkle made history on Saturday, becoming the first male runner in school history to earn All-American honors as he finished in 19th place at the NAIA National Championship at Rim Rock Farm.
 
Zirkle ran a time of 25:28, his second fastest time of the season to claim the best finish ever by a Beacon at the national event. He broke his own NCU NAIA mark  by 43 seconds. The previous best finish came from Sam Robison, who took 87th place in 2010.  
 
After taking sixth-place at the CCC championship two weeks ago, Zirkle was sixth among competitors from the conference on Saturday. CCC Champion DJ Flores finished second overall at 24:41, just five seconds behind the NAIA Individual champion, Bernard Keter from Wayland Baptist.
 
Oklahoma City won the team championship with 55 points, CCC champion Southern Oregon was second with 113 points while Eastern Oregon claimed fourth place with 144. Other conference finishes included Concordia in 20th, College of Idaho in 22nd and Oregon Tech in 24th.