After top-10 finishes in his previous two appearances, Denison senior Dee Salukombo took third in the 5,000-meter run at the 2012 Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship.

Salukombo entered the event with the fourth-best time in the field of 13 athletes.  He ran a season-best time of 14:24.58 at the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston.  The senior bested his school-record performance with a time of 14:21.20 en route to a third-place finish on Saturday in Grinnell, Iowa.

Wisconsin-Stout's Tim Nelson won the event with a time of 14:11.80, while Thomas Breitbach from Wisconsin-Eau Claire clocked in at 14:17.63 which was good enough for second place.

The top-3 finish was Salukombo's best showing on the national stage in his four-year career.  As a sophomore, he took seventh in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championship.  The senior also took eighth at the 2011 Cross Country Championships.  Salukombo also picked up his fifth All-American certificate and his second in track and field.