Redshirt senior Travis Mahoney placed 37th at the NCAA Championship race in Louisville on Saturday, becoming the first Temple All-American in cross country history.
Mahoney, who is the Atlantic 10 Conference champion and Mid-Atlantic Regional champion, finished today’s 10k race with a time of 28:59.6. He has previously earned All-American honors twice before for performances in track and field.
“This is so big. This is everything I worked for,” Mahoney said in a press release. “I will never look back and be disappointed. I came back and accomplished every goal I wanted. I will always be satisfied.”
Mahoney took a season off last year to better prepare himself for track and field in the spring, eventually earning an appearance at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
“I came back for this fifth year with three goals in mind: win the A-10 title, win the [NCAA Mid-Atlantic] regional and be named an All-American,” Mahoney said. “To be able to sit here and take in that I have done all of those things, I couldn’t be happier.”
To earn All-American status, the runner must finish among the top 40 at the national level. Mahoney was able to achieve that feat by three placements, while also besting his regional time by over 25 seconds.
“Having the chance to qualify to run at the hardest races you can ever run at and to walk away an All-American, I feel completely satisfied to close out my career here and leave my mark at Temple University,” he said.
Coach Adam Bray, in his first year of overseeing the cross country teams, has referred to Mahoney as the program’s “one key ingredient.”
“He was already really good before I got here,” Bray said in a press release. “Coming here and knowing that, I just didn’t want to mess him up or his routines, which obviously proved to be working for him. I worked with him in discussing meet plans and how to go about training for each race. All credit goes to him. He’s the one the goes out there and runs the races. What he did out there today, is extraordinary, and I’m proud of him.”
Mahoney, in total, has ended his collegiate career with a total of seven Atlantic 10 Conference individual championships, three A-10 Outstanding Performer of the Year awards, a Mid-Atlantic Athlete of the Year recognition, and three NCAA All-American titles.
“He closed out a career the best way that one possibly can,” coach Eric Mobley said in a press release. “Not many people have the opportunity to do what Travis has done during this season—going through and winning conference meets and now to be named an All-American again. It’s an outstanding finish to a final meet and career.”
Mahoney, Bray and Mobley were not immediately available for comment.
Also in cross country today, the men’s team minus Mahoney competed in the IC4A Championship at Van Courtlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. as the team finished 14th overall led by a 35th place performance by junior Will Kellar. Sophomore Jenna Dubrow was able to reclaim her position as the team’s top runner as her 24th place finish led the team to 10th place overall. Junior Anna Pavone finished just a few seconds later with a placement of 42nd.
Avery Maehrer can be reached at avery.maehrer@temple.edu or on Twitter @AveryMaehrer.
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