Athletes don’t usually benefit from injury, but for Mike Bunker, a dislocated hip may be the best thing that happened to him this season.

A distance runner on the University of Southern Maine’s track and field team, Bunker has made surprisingly great strides this season after literally limping into the preseason.

“My indoor season didn’t go to well with the dislocation. After the doctors put it back in, I wasn’t strong enough to do the 5K [5,000-meter run], so I concentrated on the 3K,” said the Bucksport native, who was also waylaid with food poisoning a month ago. “They say there’s only 45 seconds between a good open 3K time and a really good 3K steeplechase time, so I started thinking about doing the steeple. I figured if I could manage the hurdles and the water pits, it might be a good event for me.”

He managed. Just six weeks after the switch, Bunker finds himself readying for the NCAA Division III Championship meet in Waverly, Iowa, as one of the 16 top steeplechasers in the country.

“I didn’t even expect to make nationals, so I’m just enjoying the experience and having fun,” said the redshirt junior student-athlete. “I’m living large. It’s just gravy here on out. I had my potatoes a couple weeks ago.”

Since then, Bunker has smashed the school record time of 9 minutes, 36 seconds in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:09.39 at the ECAC Championships last Friday. His time makes him the fifth seed heading into Friday night’s national final race.

“It’s funny because at the Division I New Englands, I just died with a 9:42 and I thought I was a one-hit wonder,” he recalled. “I went out too fast, but last week it was a well-paced race and I was comfortable early. With about 700 to go, I found myself in the lead and I was running scared, but I didn’t want to break stride so I kept on going.”

Yeah, right into the USM record books and on to Waverly after just his fifth steeplechase race ever. Guess he was able to manage those hurdles and pits.

“It’s easier for me to just kind of hop my whole body over the hurdles,” Bunker said. “It’s a good thing it doesn’t really matter how pretty you look going over.”

Bunker’s sixth steeplechase is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday and he’s hoping it’s a repeat of his last one.

“I need to ignore the moves and distractions and maintain a nice, even pace for the first half. Then I’ll kick and hopefully go for it,” he said.

Finishing in the top eight would elevate Bunker to All-American status – something he’s never before even dreamed, let alone thought seriously about.

“What started as an experiment has turned into something great for him,” said USM women’s track coach George Towle, who traveled to Waverly with Bunker and fellow national qualifiers Kim Brewer and Kristen Sinclair. “You could never predict something like this. Sometimes injuries can pay off, I guess.”

Brewer and Sinclair will compete in the heptathlon and javelin throw, respectively. Brewer scored 4,439 points at ECACs and is seeded 14th while Sinclair had a school-record toss of 135 feet, 7 inches.