(Editor’s note: Carroll College athletics release)
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Carroll College men’s 4×800-meter relay team finished fourth and Bethany Lacock finished fifth place in the heptathlon for All-American honors to highlight day two at the NAIA Track and Field National Championship Friday at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Lacock entered the day in seventh place after four events of the Heptathlon with the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run to finish the event.
After a nearly three-hour lightning delay before the start of the Long jump, she put up a respectable 17-feet-1, the fourth-best jump in the competition. It came down to the javelin where she failed to record a mark at the 2017 championship which cost her All-American honors. Her first throw landed tip down, the mark counted and head coach Harry Clark knew she would be on the podium.
“As soon as she stuck that I knew she would be an All-American,” Clark said. “The 800-meter run was going to be a matter of her final finish, but I knew that after her work and last year’s disappointment, she was going to end her career the way she wanted to finish.”
She crossed the line in the 800-meter run with a 2:22.94 for a sixth-place finish in the fifth-place finish overall with a final score of 4,602, a new Carroll school record.
“It feels different than I ever thought it would, but I am really happy and I feel like all my hard work paid off,” Lacock said. “I didn’t get off to a great start yesterday so I had to battle at every event. I am happy with what I accomplished, I left it all out there today and I am not sad that I don’t get to come back here to do it tomorrow.”
Lacock was the first All-American honoree of the day, but she was not the last, the Carroll men’s 4×800-team entered the meet ranked fourth and made it into today’s final with a school record time of 7:36.51. Friday, in the final, they battled the tough field to a fourth-place finish with a time of 7:38.60 to triple the Carroll All-American count from two to six.
“It was an exciting race and they battled from start to finish,” Clark said. “The cool thing about the race is that it proved that yesterday’s time wasn’t a fluke. They ran their tails off and ran for each other and it was a lot of fun to see them do that. It was four seniors on the squad and for three of them it was their last collegiate race so it is an exciting way to go out.”
PHOTOS: CARROLL, ROCKY ATHLETES EARN ALL-AMERICAN STATUS
The final highlight of the day came in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. The Saints ran in the first heat and finished fourth by a slight margin. Two teams from each heat advanced to the final, as well as the next two fastest. The Carroll team nervously waited for the final two races to complete, but their time held up and they advanced to Saturday’s final.
“These girls have shown how competitive they can be in that final and I am excited for what they can do tomorrow,” Clark said. “That is the last race of the event so it is exciting to be right in the mix with the entire stadium at attention.”
Friday’s other competitors were Keven Kailey in the 110-hurdles. He put up a respectable time of 15.19. Jack Dunley just missed the final in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.17. He finished ninth overall.
Saturday, Carroll closes out the meet beginning with the marathon at 6 a.m. Janie Reid and Layne Ryerson take to the course for the Saints. Janie finished third overall a season ago.
Samantha Mundel and Chance Hyatt each run in the 1,500-meter final and the women’s 4×400-meter hurdles close out the day on the track.
The only field event of the day is the pole vault that includes Keaton Brady who enters the event ranked third.
