Mascari finishes 60th at Nationals

LOUISVILLE, Ken. (WTHI) - John Mascari capped his impressive freshmen campaign with yet another impressive race. His time of 30:25.6 was a new school record (formerly held by Craig Padgett, 30:38 in 2011) and his 60th place finish was the second best by an Indiana State runner (second to Charlie Warthum, who 41st in 1970).

Mascari went out in the top 60 and was running tough from the get go.

“We went out in about a 4:40 first mile, I knew it would go out fast.  At that point I was in the 50’s and I just tried to hold on the best I could,” said Mascari.

He then jockeyed for position and eventually held on for 60th.

“I was only 20 places off of being an All-American, that’s not a bad place to start. I’m only a freshmen so we’ll see how the next few years go,” said Mascari.

Coach John McNichols was very pleased with Mascari’s efforts.

“That was a great run today, when you figure he was 7th in his region and there were 9 regions, 60th place isn’t too bad. We trained John for the NCAA Regional last weekend and his training may be geared more toward peaking this weekend a year from now,” said McNichols.

The race was won individually by Texas Tech Junior Kennedy Kithuka in 28:31.3, while Oklahoma State University were the team champions with 72 points.