LeDuc racing toward another shot at a NCAA Div. 3 national title

Two-time national champion Michael LeDuc of Connecticut College

NEW LONDON, Jan. 27 – Canton senior Michael LeDuc, the All-American runner at Connecticut College, is preparing for another run at a national championship. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in two different events in NCAA Division III – the 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) and 3,000 meters. 

He is ranked No. 1 in the 5,000 meters after his school record time of 14:17.32 on Saturday at the Terrier Invitational at Boston College. LeDuc finished second in the race that was heavy with Division I and Division II competitors. That performance earned LeDuc the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Division III national athlete of the week award. 

LeDuc hung with the chase pack throughout most of the race behind winner Maksim Korolev of Harvard. LeDuc took control of the trailing pack in the later stages of the race to outrace Providence’s Benjamin Connor to the finish by two-thirds of a second. The next-nearest Division III competitor was nearly 40 seconds behind. 

LeDuc won the 3,000 meters at the Tufts Invitational on January 18 with a personal-best time of 8:23.56, which is the top Division III time of the season. 

LeDuc is a six-time NCAA Division III All-American performer and two-time national champion with the Camels. 

He has earned All-American status in the 3,000 steeplechase three times including winning the NCAA Division III title last spring. He finished third at the NCAA Division III indoor track championship meet in the 5,000 meters in February 2013. In cross country, he won the Division III national championship in November and was 13th at the Division III championship meet in 2012.