Joplin, Mo. – Senior Pardon Ndhlovu capped off his cross country career as a two-time all-American in cross country as he was the only runner from the UNCP men's cross country team to compete at the NCAA Division II National Championship Race on Saturday afternoon on the campus of Missouri Southern State.
Ndhlovu dropped more than 37 seconds off of his personal-best time in the 10K to place 32nd overall with a time of 30:14.2. The Zimbabwe native was in fourth place after the first 5K with a recorded a time of 14:21.3, but finished the final 5K in a time of 15:53.0.
"Pardon truly had an all-American performance as he had an 8K and 10K personal record and nearly a 5K personal record. His performance is a testament to the training and how well he has been doing all year," said head cross country coach Gary Aycock. "He was a contender to win the race up until the 6K, but then he hit a wall and was able to recover to garner all-American status."
The time marked the second fastest 10K in school history after grabbing the Southeast Regional title two weeks prior. He has finished first four times this season and in the top-3 six different times. He was named USTFCCCA Southeast Region Male Athlete of the Year this year as well as all-PBC and all-region.
A four-year starter in the UNCP lineup, Ndhlovu will exit Pembroke after this season as one of the most decorated student-athletes in any sport. Having earned all-American accolades in both cross country and track & field, he is a four-time all-conference selection and a two-time Peach Belt Conference Runner of the Year honoree, and also has a slew of academic awards on his resume as well. He was a member of the 2011 CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American squad and has, twice, been named to the USTFCCCA all-academic team as well.
Ndhlovu currently holds the top seven 8K times in school history, while also owning 15 of the top 17 times at that distance as well. He has been named PBC Runner of the Week 15 times over his career and has 12 career event championship as well as 20 career finishes among an event's top-3 runners.
