Just a few months ago Salisbury University freshman Ryan Jackson was deciding if cross country was what he wanted to do. He had never competed in the sport before. Though he had run distance on his high school track & field team, soccer was the sport he played in the fall.

If his freshman season at Salisbury is any indication, choosing cross country was a pretty good choice. Jackson finished his initial season on Saturday competing at the NCAA Division III National Championships, hosted by Wartburg College.

Jackson, the first Salisbury qualifier for the national championship since Eric Graves in 2007, ran a time of 25:54.2 on Saturday, good for 174th place.

The Laurel, Md., native ran a strong race and was the ninth-best freshman in the men's field on the day.

The run caps a season in which Jackson ran a top time of 25:19 at the Capital Athletic Conference Championships at Winter Place Park on November 6. He was the CAC individual champion and was voted by the league's coaches as the CAC Rookie of the Year. Jackson continued his success at the NCAA Mideast Regional, last week, where he placed 26th, was named All-Region and named to the All-Regional Freshman Team.