CANTON, May 23 – Two former Canton High athletes have qualified to compete at the NCAA Division III national championship meet in track
and field in Iowa on May 27-29.
Mike LeDuc of Connecticut College
Connecticut College freshman Michael LeDuc qualified to compete in the 3,000 meter steeplechase while Dickinson College senior Kim Powell qualified in the 10,000 meter race. They are the first track and field athletes from Canton to compete in the NCAA national championships since 1986.
Carneige Mellon senior Nate Bussiere just missed qualifying in the 1,500 meters. Bussiere surpassed the provisional qualifying time but too many athletes earned automatic bids and he didn’t make the cut.
LeDuc and Powell also surpassed provisional qualifying times, which places an athlete in a large pool of applicants. Selection to the national meet is determined by your time, national ranking and how many open spots are available in that respective event.
LeDuc is the only freshman in the field of 20 athletes and is ranked 17th in the country. Powell is ranked 14th in the nation in the 10,000 meters.
LeDuc won the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the recent ECAC Division III championship meet with a personal-best time of 9:13.48. LeDuc earned a spot on the All-NESCAC men’s track team for his solid performance in the steeplechase, taking third with a time of 9:24.40. He earned All-New England honors.
In the fall, he was named rookie of the year in men’s cross country by NESCAC, finishing fifth at the league championship meet. In the indoor track season, he earned All-New England honors in the 5,000 meters by taking third.
“Mike has continued the success he showed in cross country and the indoor season during outdoors, so it is no surprise that he earned All-NESCAC honors,” said Jim Butler, Connecticut College’s cross country head coach and an assistant with the track program. “He has shown great range for us from the 1,500 up to 10,000 meters, but I think his best event will prove to be the steeple, and I am looking forward to some great results from Mike.”
Kim Powell of Dickinson College
At Dickinson in Carlise, Pa., Powell ran a personal best time of 36:25.05 in the 10,000 meters (6.2 mile) race at the Centennial Conference championship meet, knocking 20 seconds off her personal best time and finished second. In the 5,000 meter race (3.1 miles), Powell again finished second with another personal best time of 17:39.62.
Bussiere finished second in the 1,500 meters at the University Athletic Association track and field championships and helped the Tartan 4×800 meter relay team finished second. Bussiere posted a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division III championships by taking third at the Gator Invitational in Meadville, Pa., in the 1,500 meters with a season-best time of 3:52.10.
The last Canton runner to compete in the NCAA Division III tournament was Kelly Rainey Kurcz in 1986 for UMass-Boston, where she was a four-time All-American runner.
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2025 and the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.
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