(Editor’s note: Carroll College athletics release)
GULF SHORES, Ala. – Janie Reid finished second in the marathon early Saturday morning to start off a stellar day for the Carroll College track and field team at the NAIA Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Reid was the first of eight Carroll athletes to earn All-American honors in the final day, including a third-place finish by Chance Hyatt in the men’s 1,500-meter run, a fifth-place finish from Samantha Mundel in the Women’s 1,500-meter run, a seventh-place finish from Keaton Brady in the pole vault and a sixth-place finish for the Carroll 4×400-meter relay team.
The Carroll women finished 14th overall with 22 total team points. The men finished with 13 overall points.
“This is part of the exciting thing about coming here,” head coach Harry Clark said. “These kids came to compete today and it showed. I am proud of what we accomplished here this weekend. There are not a lot of teams that come away with 12 athletes that earn 14 All-American honors.”
Reid gutted out the marathon finish in 3:06:32.78. She entered the race ranked 24th and is the only one out of the top six that wasn’t a single-digit seed entering the race. Winner Stephanie Johnston led wire-to-wire, but Reid took control of the second spot right away and held onto the spot throughout.
Layne Ryerson finished 25th in the marathon. He was in the top 10 through the first 18 miles before falling back.
“Janie to come back after finishing third last year and improving on that is impressive,” Clark said. “It is impossible to prepare for a marathon in these conditions. The heat and the humidity are just brutal, but she was better than 43 other athletes. For Layne, I am proud of what he did. A big part of what he wanted to do was finish and he did. He was right in the mix going into the last part of the race, but he hit the wall a little bit.”
Between the marathon and the bulk of the meet, two lightning delays that moved the meet back several hours and forced officials to move to a rolling schedule. It also caused a significant delay in the men’s pole vault.
“The weather has been really taxing on everyone,” Clark said. “People don’t realize how hard it is to drop everything and jump right back into it two hours later. The way our kids handled it really impressed me. They didn’t complain, they came out and did a competed and did it at a high level.”
The first on-track events of the day were the 1,500-meter runs. Sam Mundel battled through a tight pack to pick up a fifth-place finish and beat her personal-best by nearly 10 seconds, finishing at 4:32.05.
Chance Hyatt was next up and moved to the front of a tight pack in with 300-meters to go and rounded the final corner with the lead before being overtaken on the final straightaway. He finished third but broke his own school record with a time of 3:48.81.
“Both 1,500-meter runners ran so well,” Clark said. “Sam ran a tough race against some great competition and did great. Chance was in the lead with 100-meters to go and was fighting for a title. He was edged out at the end, but that is something he would never forget and that time would win that title most years here.”
The final event on the track was the 4×400-meter relay. The Saints finished sixth with a time of 3:50.65. It was a tight race throughout with tough exchange zones every time.
“Sixth is nothing to scoff at, it was an impressive run, but it was a great learning experience for this team,” Clark said. “All of these girls are going to be back next year and we are excited about what they can accomplish.”
The pole vault was the last event to finish after the delay. Keaton Brady finished seventh with a vault of 15-feet-9. He made heights of 15-5 and 15-9 but passed at 15-11 before missing at 16-0 ¾.
“We tried to save his energy and do something special with the skipping and it didn’t quite work out,” Clark said. “I am happy where he finished. He dealt with some pretty serious injuries this year and the training with the snow this spring was tough. It is exciting to end on the podium.”
The full list of Carroll College all-Americans is below.
All-Americans
Hannah Porch – Long Jump¸ 4×400 – Relay
Bethany Lacock – Heptathlon
Chance Hyatt – 4×800 – Relay, 1,500-meter
Darren Hecker – 4×800 – Relay
Jack Dunley – 4×800 – Relay
Kyle Nickol – 4×800 – Relay
Janie Reid – Marathon
Keaton Brady – Pole Vault
Samantha Mundel – 1,500-meter
Monica White – 4×400 – relay
Keely Ehmann – 4×400 – relay
Brooke Endy – 4×400 – relay
