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AJ Gruttadauro (far left), Cameron Nocton (middle), and Ricardo Smith (far right) each earned All-American honors at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships on Thursday.
AJ Gruttadauro (far left), Cameron Nocton (middle), and Ricardo Smith (far right) each earned All-American honors at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships on Thursday.
Posted: May 23, 2024

RSC Men's Outdoor Track & Field trio named All-Americans at National Championships

MARION, Ind. - Rio Grande's (Ohio) AJ Gruttadauro may have earned one of the more unlikely All-American repeats in NAIA history, while Brescia's (Ky.) Ricardo Smith made significant program history on day two on the Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday.

After coming to Rio as a graduate assistant, Gruttadauro had eligibility remaining and elected to use it this spring. The move paid off Thursday, and he claimed his first All-American finish in five years with a fourth-place time of 22:28.09 in the 5,000-meter race walk.

It was the fourth race walk All-American Gruttadauro earned and his third at a River States school. At WVU Tech, he finished sixth in the 5,000 in 22:48.68 in 2018 and fourth in the 3,000 in 13:20.58 in 2019. He came to Tech after placing fourth in the 5K event in 23:40.03 while at Spring Arbor (Mich.) during the 2017 season.

Gruttadauro is the second member of the Red Storm to be named a 2024 All-American, after teammate Tyler Jenkins placed seventh in the 10,000-meter run on Wednesday.

He was one of two RSC competitors to be named All-American in the race walk, with Cameron Nocton of IU East (Ind.) placing seventh in 22:31.14. It was the second-consecutive, seventh-place finish in the event for Nocton, who crossed the finish line in 24:11.11 at 2023 Outdoor Nationals.

After getting off to a good start on day one, Smith held firm and earned the first All-American finish in the history of the Brescia men's track and field program by placing fifth in the decathlon.

The highlight of Smith's 6,453-point performance came in the 110-meter hurdles, where he finished first in 14.21 seconds. He also placed third in the 100-meter dash (10.98), the long jump (6.55 meters) and javelin (50.85).

Elsewhere, Shawnee State's (Ohio) Aiden Kammler qualified for the final round of the 5,000-meter run with a third-place time of 14:37.92 in Thursday's preliminary round. Friday's 5K finale will take place at 4:55 p.m.

Kammler was a national runner-up at the Indoor Championships in March and has earned seven All-American finishes across track and cross country.