JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One of the most decorated athletes in Saint Joseph's men's track and field program history closed an illustrious career on Friday evening as Zach Michon crossed his final finish line as a Hawk.

Representing the Crimson and Gray in the 5000m at the 2021 East Regional Preliminary Rounds, the graduate student checked in with a time of 14:04.80 for 14th in the 24-member field of Heat 1. The performance ended up being good for 28th in an overall field of 47; Michon was ranked 37th entering the race.

"Welp, it's finally finished," said Michon of his career on Hawk Hill. "I'm walking away satisfied knowing that I gave it my all, today and this entire year. It was such an awesome experience just being at an NCAA meet and being surrounded by the best in collegiate track. As far as the actual race goes, I fought well in a tough field. It has been a crazy year with some ridiculously-fast performances. The depth in the field was greater than it has ever been at the NCAA level. I'm extremely grateful for the chance to be here, and I'm proud to represent St. Joe's one last time."

To read more on Michon's career, see below.

Outdoor Track and Field: Michon competed in 34 races from 2017-2021, with PRs in the 800m (1:53.95), 1500m (3:44.43), and 5000m (13:53.05); his 5000m time stands as SJU's school record while his 1500m time ranks him fourth on SJU's All-Time Top-Ten Performers List. He also ran the third leg on SJU's school-record 4xMile Relay.

In his 24 individual races, Michon turned in 20 top-ten performances, with 13 coming in the 1500m and five coming in the 5000m. He took home six wins, with four in the 1500, one in the 5000m, and one in the Distance Medley Relay and has turned in SJU's top 1500m time in all four of his outdoor seasons on Hawk Hill as well as SJU's top 5000m time in each of the last three seasons.

Michon is a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference outdoor track and field individual champion, claiming both the 1500m and 5000m titles at this year's outdoor meet. Michon also medaled in the 1500m (silver) and 5000m (3rd) in 2019 and added scoring performances in both events in 2018 for a total of 40 points at the conference level.

A two-time NCAA East Regional Preliminary Rounds qualifier (1500m in 2019) and three-time IC4A competitor in the mile, with a 2018 IC4A All-East selection to his name after an eighth-place finish, Michon was named Saint Joseph's track and field's Most Valuable Performer four years in a row.

Indoor Track and Field: Michon competed in 38 races from the 2016-17 season through the 2019-20 season, with PRs in the 800m (1:56.57), 1000m (2:27.06), mile (4:04.87), and 3000m (8:05.62); his 3000m time stands as SJU's school record while his mile time and 1000m time rank him third and ninth, respectively, on SJU's All-Time Top-Ten Performers List.

In his 32 individual races, Michon turned in 25 top-ten performances, with 16 coming in the mile. He took home six wins, with three in the mile, one in the 3000m, one in the 4x800m relay, and one in the Distance Medley Relay. The standout turned in SJU's top times in the 1000m, mile, and 3000m in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns and went on to lead the Crimson and Gray for a third year in both the mile and 3000m in 2019-20.

Michon is a three-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference indoor track and field individual champion, claiming the mile title at the 2019 indoor meet and both the mile and 3000m titles at the 2020 meet, which earned the standout 2020 A-10 Most Outstanding Track Performer recognition. Michon also medaled in the 3000m with a third-place finish at the 2019 meet for a total of four indoor conference medals alongside seven scoring performances for 47 points. He scored in every mile (4) and 3000m (3) race in which he competed at the A-10 level.

Michon is a three-time IC4A competitor in the 1500m, with a 2021 IC4A All-East selection to his name after a third-place finish, and was named Saint Joseph's track and field's Most Valuable Performer four years in a row.

Cross Country: Michon competed in 23 races from 2016-19, with PRs in the 5k (15:24.6), 6k (18:53.4), 7.993k (25:45.5), 8k (23:53.3), 5M (25:04), 5.2M (25:40.8), 8.4k (26:19.2), and 10k (31:14.5); his 8k time stands as SJU's school record for the Lehigh course. He finished as SJU's #1 runner 13 times over those 23 races, including in six of seven races as a senior and five of six races as a junior. He also finished as SJU's #1 runner in all five of his championship races in his junior and senior seasons. Furthermore, Michon finished as either SJU's #1 or #2 runner 21 times over those 23 races.

In the overall field, Michon finished in the top-four percent four times, top-six percent eight times, top-eight percent 11 times, top-10 percent 14 times, top-20 percent 18 times, and top-25 percent 21 times, never placing outside of the top-33 percent of an overall field. Michon was a top-ten finisher in nine different races, with wins at the 2017 TCNJ Blue/Gold Classic 5k and 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship 8k, a runner-up spot at the 2018 Monmouth Kick-Off Invitational 6k, a third-place finish at the 2019 George Mason Invitational 8k, a pair of fourth-place finishes at the 2019 Monmouth Kick-Off Invitational 6k and 2019 IC4A Championship 5M, a sixth-place finish at the 2017 George Mason Invitational 7.993k, a seventh-place finish at the 2019 Penn State National Open 5.2M, an eighth-place finish at the 2018 Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational 8.4k, and a 10th-place finish at the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship 5M.

The 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship individual champion, Michon is a three-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference cross country selection (2017, 2018, 2019), also earning Academic All-Conference honors in 2019, as well as a three-time Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week. He is a two-time IC4A All-East selection (2017, 2019) and was twice named Saint Joseph's cross country's Most Valuable Performer (2018, 2019).