Keith Bechtol Named CAA Track Athlete of the Week

Senior Academic All-American Ran NCAA-Qualifying Time at Stanford

04/03/07 3:00PM

RICHMOND, VA - Senior Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, Va.) was named as the Colonial Athletic Association Track Athlete of the Week today after running an NCAA-qualifying time Sunday at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational.

Bechtol set a personal-best in the 10,000m by nearly 30 seconds at Stanford, timing 28:55.57 to place 23rd overall. His time provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships, the USAT&F National Championships, and next summer's Olympic Trials, and was only 10 seconds behind the time needed for an automatic bid to the NCAAs. With the performance, Bechtol ranks third all-time at William and Mary, behind only All-Americans Matt Lane and Ken Halla.

Bechtol is the defending CAA Champion at 10,000m, and was third at IC4A Championships in 2006. In 2004, he won the IC4A title with a time of 29:58.13, the fastest run by any American 19 and under that year. He was the runner-up at the 2004 USAT&F Junior Nationals, and was the highest finishing American at the IAAF World Junior Championships that year.