St. Louis College of Pharmacy Athlete
Earns All-American Honors
ST. LOUIS – Competing in the mile, David Baker from St. Louis College of Pharmacy (STLCOP) finished sixth at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indoor Track & Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Baker is STLCOP’s first-ever NAIA All-American.
His time of 4:13.50 was three seconds faster than his 4:16.91 in the preliminaries, and six seconds better than last month’s Missouri Collegiate Challenge in Columbia, Mo.
“David is just a gutsy runner,” said coach David Baker, who isn’t related. “You can see the pain in his face, but his legs don’t let him down. In every race that he’s won, he’s found a way to pour it on during the final lap to either win or to move up dramatically.”
And pour it on is exactly what Baker did during the last 100 meters of the race. With two other runners challenging position, Baker was determined to get sixth place – the last All-American spot.
“I kicked it up rounding the final corner and down the home stretch. I passed two guys to get sixth place,” he said. “It was the greatest feeling to cross that line, knowing I'd made it.”
Baker joined nine others from around the country in competing for national honors in the mile. Silas Kisorio from Oklahoma Christian earned first place with a winning time of 4:11.77. In addition, Baker was one of two STLCOP runners to qualify for the NAIA championships; teammate Amr Abualnadi participated in the 1,000-meters.
As a fifth-year student, Baker plans to pursue a career in community pharmacy. As a native of Morrison, Mo., he also has plans of maintaining the family farm.
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