EUGENE, Ore. – Graduate student Dan Schaffer concluded his prolific career at Binghamton by securing the only honor he had yet to receive – NCAA Division I All-American.
 
On Friday night at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field, he placed 24th overall in the men's 5,000 with a time of 14:00.65. In the process, he clinched honorable mention All-America honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
 
The top eight finishers in each event at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships earned first-team All-America honors. Second-team honors went to places 9-16 while honorable mention status was awarded to finishers 17-24.
 
"Running in this meet on this track lived up to all expectations," Schaffer said. "It's been my goal during my career at Binghamton to represent the program on the biggest stage of the NCAA. I didn't have it tonight but it was a dream come true for me to be here."
 
Schaffer becomes the 16^th NCAA Division I All-American in Binghamton Athletic Department history as well as the sixth within the Bearcats' track & cross country programs. The previous five include Rory Quiller (2007-08), Erik van Ingen (2011-12), Jesse Garn (2015-16) and current graduate student Emily Mackay, who will compete in the finals of the women's 1,500 on Saturday.
 
Since arriving at Binghamton in the fall of 2016, Schaffer has compiled an impressive resume of accomplishments. He has qualified for the NCAA East Region Outdoor Track Meet three times (2019, 2021 and 2022) and has been named All-Northeast Region in cross country twice (2018 and 2021).
 
It was at his third and final NCAA East Region Outdoor Meet two weeks ago that Schaffer punched his long-awaited ticket to a national championship meet. He placed sixth overall at that meet in the 5,000 (13:39.27).
 
"The culture at Binghamton has been so conducive to producing fast runners," he said. "I have to thank my teammates for pushing me during my career and I especially want to thank our distance coach Annette Acuff, who has done a great job with the program."
 
"We are very proud of how well Dan has run for us and how he has represented Binghamton University throughout his career," Acuff said. "He's been a fantastic student-athlete to work with.  He will be dearly missed by everyone in our program."
 
At the conference level, Schaffer is an an eight-time America East track & field champion as well as the 2021 conference cross country champion.
 
Binghamton's focus now turns back to Mackay, whose 1,500 finals takes place on Saturday at 5:41 p.m. EST on ESPN. She is making her fifth and final appearance at a NCAA Championship Meet.