LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Bates senior captain Ross Tejeda placed 17th out of 22 runners in the men's 1,500 meters Thursday at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, being held at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. 

Tejeda (Milton, Mass.) raced to the finish in 3:52.40, less than a second away from a top-16 showing, which would have meant second team All-America honors. St. John's (Minn.) runner Cole Stencel was 16th in 3:52.01. 

Tejeda was in the second of two heats of 11 runners apiece. His heat was much faster, with eight of the 11 runners qualifying for finals. By comparison, only the top four runners from the first heat qualified for finals and those four runners were all slower than nine of the 11 runners in Tejeda's heat. 

In his final race as a Bobcat, Tejeda out-performed his seeding. He entered nationals as the 20th seed based on his career-best time of 3:48.13, achieved at the MIT Final Qualifier. 

Tejeda finishes his collegiate career as a two-time All-American and the school record-holder in the mile run. His mark in the 1,500 meters ranks second all-time at Bates.