BIRMINGHAM, ALA. -- Furman senior Cameron Ponder earned second team All-America honors in the 3,000m Saturday at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Ponder recorded a time of 8:03.99 to finish 11th in the event, where the top eight finishers were separated by less than a second.  He qualified for the meet for the second-consecutive year after ranking 14th nationally with a time of 7:45.56 in the event, a career best which he posted Feb. 19 at the JDL DMR Invitational. 

"This was a tremendous season for Cameron in a year that was the absolute hardest ever to qualify," said Furman head coach Robert Gary after the event.  "He got tangled up and ended up getting two stitches in his foot following the race.  Cam will learn a great deal from this race and, as usual, will raise his game like he has done every season he has been at Furman." 

Ponder, whose 2022 All-America citation is the sixth in the history of the Paladin men's indoor track and field program, earned first-team All-America accolades in the 3,000m last season after recording a time of 7:54.56 to take eighth place at the NCAA Championships.  

He has recorded four sub-4:00 mile marks during his indoor track career and won the mile with a time of 3:59.75 at the Southern Conference Championships in February.  Ponder also competed as a member of the Paladins' DMR team, which took silver at the event.