College Track & Field News – Guilford’s Cason & Norton Land Academic All-District Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College seniors David Cason (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) and Chad Norton (Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central) earned Capital One Academic All-District® 5 NCAA Division III Track & Field/Cross Country recognition from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Friday. Cason is a three-time Academic All-District® honoree. Norton received the honor for the first time in his career.

CoSIDA members nominated and selected the Academic All-District® teams. The squads are comprised of cross country and track and field student-athletes from NCAA III institutions in the 11-state area from Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia, south to Florida. Nominees were starters or important reserves of sophomore academic standing or above who maintained at least a 3.3 grade point average. As first-team all-district selections, Cason and Norton are eligible for the organization’s Capital One Division III Academic All-America® Team, which will be announced June 24.

David Cason 2014

David Cason 2014 by Greensboro Sports

David Cason (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth)

Cason earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-South recognition for the second straight season by virtue of his seventh-place finish Nov. 16 at the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championships. He completed the eight-kilometer course in a career-low 25 minutes, 13.43 seconds, the fifth-best time in school history. The finish earned Cason his first trip to the Division III National Championships where he placed 173rd in 26:25.00. He also earned All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) honors for the second time in his career with a fourth-place finish at the league championships.

Cason’s track season was curtailed after two indoor meets due to injury. He has applied for a medical redshirt and hopes to use his final season of track eligibility in the spring 2015 semester. He graduated May 17 with high honors as a biology and health sciences double major. Cason posted a 3.72 grade point average and also minored in chemistry. He earned one of Guilford’s prestigious Charles A. Dana Scholarships, the 2013 Eugene Hire Memorial Award for academic excellence and was inducted into the school’s Scholarship Society. Guilford’s Alumni Association honored him with its 2013 Clyde A. Milner Academic Excellence Award and he collected Guilford’s Eva Campbell Biology Scholarship in 2012 and 2013. He is an eight-time member of Guilford’s Student-Athlete Honor Roll and a two-time USTFCCA All-Academic selection. The dean’s list student earned Academic All-ODAC recognition three times and has served as a Guilford resident advisor. Cason completed an internship last summer in Duke University’s Department of Radiation Oncology and hopes to attend medical school after Guilford.

Chad Norton 2014

Chad Norton 2014 by Greensboro Sports

Chad Norton (Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central)

Norton became Guilford’s first USTFCCCA Cross Country All-American with his 26th-place finish at the 2013 Division III Championships. He completed the course in 25:14.0, the sixth-fastest eight-kilometer time in school history. Norton qualified for his third straight national meet by running a school-record 24:41.81 at the Division III South/Southeast Regionals, which placed fourth and earned USTFCCCA All-South/Southeast honors for a Guilford-best fourth straight season. He placed second in five of his eight races last fall, including at the ODAC Championships, which secured his fourth consecutive First Team All-ODAC commendation, another Guilford standard. Norton concluded his cross country career with the Quakers’ all-time fastest times in both five- and eight-kilometer races.

On the track, Norton set Guilford’s indoor record in 3,000 meters with a time of 8:44.10 at the 2014 Tar Heel Open. He also had the Quakers’ best indoor season times in the mile (4:27.39) and 5,000 meters (15:01.29). In the spring, Norton successfully defended his 5,000-meter title at the ODAC Outdoor Championships with a time of 15:11.24. He also placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:53.1, which earned Second Team All-ODAC honors. Norton posted the Quakers’ top outdoor season times in the 800 (2:00.53), 1,500 (4:05.76), 3,000 steeplechase (9:26.09) and 5,000 (14:55.86) this spring. He concludes his brilliant career with three school indoor records and three outdoor standards.

In the classroom, Norton was a physics major who graduated earlier this month with departmental honors and a 3.46 grade point average. He minored in math and chemistry. Norton received Guilford’s 2014 Womack Research Award and was one of five students to win the 2014 English Athletic Leadership Award, the school’s top athletics honor. He is a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, a four-time Academic All-ODAC pick and made the Guilford Student-Athlete Honor Roll all eight semesters. The dean’s list student also served as a resident advisor and physics teaching assistant while at Guilford.

The pair helped coach Danny Cash’s cross country team place fifth in the ODAC and 13th in the South/Southeast Region last fall. The Quakers’ men’s track and field team placed eighth at the ODAC’s indoor and outdoor championships this season.