ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The largest group of Golden Eagles ever to compete at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships sent two steeplechasers to Friday's final, as senior Chase Schermer and freshman Payton Brack both advanced out of preliminary competition (May 20-21) at Karl Straus Track on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Brack provided the fastest time of the trio in in Thursday's preliminaries, clocking a 9:17.74, second in program history, to finish seventh overall among 31 competitors. Schermer finished in 9:18.29, fourth in program history, to place eighth overall. Both finished fourth in their respective heats to advance.
JBU joins Montreat (N.C.) as the only programs with multiple finalists among the 14 who will contest Friday's final.
Friday will mark Schermer's second appearance in the steeplechase final in three seasons. The senior finished 10th nationally in 2024 with a time of 9:18.72, a mark he bettered by nearly half a second Thursday in the preliminaries.
Sophomore Samuel Burkett, competing through injury over the past weeks, toed the line regardless and finished 18th overall in 9:31.87 without advancing.
On the women's side, freshman Katalina Chan competed in both the 400 meters and the 400-meter hurdles on Wednesday and Thursday, posting two of the best performances in program history without advancing to the final in either. Chan ran a 1:01.51 in the 400-meter hurdles – a personal best and the fastest time in program history – finishing 17th among 36 competitors. In the 400 meters, she posted a 56.21 to finish 16th of 25, the second-fastest time in program history.
Freshman Abigail Stucker ran a personal-best 4:41.22 in the women's 1,500 meters, finishing 14th of 20 competitors. Her time ranks third in program history.
Schermer and Brack return to the track Friday when the steeplechase final goes off at 1:45 p.m.
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