AUSTIN, Texas - A total of ten members from the Carson-Newman track and field team were named to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District team on Thursday, July 15.
Josh Finchum, Austin Gramann and Isaiah Kyle were selected to the men's team, while Morgan Bailey, Marlee Baker, Amanda Lowe, Susan Nelson, Abby Owens, Rachel Strayer and Amy Zadroga were selected to the women's team.
The convocation are the first Carson-Newman track team members to be selected since Caleb Agee gathered the honor for the third year in a row in 2020 before being named First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. The ten All-District members are the most in school history and the most Eagles to be named All-District since Agee, Luke Greer and Bekah White all earned honors in 2019.
Isaiah Kyle did not let his lack of competition deter him during the 2021 outdoor track season. The grad transfer from Wingate University and Morristown, Tenn. native returned home to compete for the Eagles after three years away from competition. Kyle finished the year with a 3.45 GPA while pursuing his Masters in Teaching.
Kyle shined for the Eagles this season, finishing either first or second at every event he competed at in the high jump. Kyle won the SAC Outdoor Conference Championship in the event with a jump of 2.11 meters, the 7th highest jump in the nation at the time. Kyle rewrote the record books at the 2021 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, earning the silver medal with a school record jump of 2.17 meters.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) May 28, 2021
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Austin Gramann was one of the many Eagles who elected to stay and compete at Carson-Newman following the canceled 2020 outdoor season. The Jefferson City, Tenn. native finished the year with a 3.63 GPA after majoring in Physical Education. Gramann broke the school record for hammer throw that had stood since 1979 with a toss of 44.07 meters at the Montreat College Invite on Mar. 26, 2021. Gramann would return to Black Mountain and break his own record again just two months later at the Montreat Final with a toss of 47.74 meters.
Josh Finchum recorded a 3.53 GPA while majoring in History and Political Science. The junior out of Dandridge, Tenn. vastly improved from the 2020 season, earning a pair of top-10 finishes in the pole vault during the 2021 otutdoor season. Finchum set a new personal best and recorded a ninth place finish at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.85 meters.
On the women's side, Morgan Bailey, Marlee Baker, Susan Nelson and Abby Owens all recorded perfect 4.0 GPAs during the 2020-21 academic school year. Bailey, a religious studies and exercise science double major, recorded 12 top-15 finishes in the 100 meter, 400 meter and 400 meter hurdles during the outdoor season. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn. native is also a member of the school record women's 4x100 meter relay team with Tia Davis, Amanda Lowe and Timaya Ray that broke or reset the record three times during the 2021 season, including a third place medal finish at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships with a time of 47.38 seconds.
While majoring in psychology, Baker built off her momentum from her stellar 2020 indoor campaign, recording three top-10 finishes in the pole vault during the 2021 outdoor season. Baker finished fourth at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships in the pole vault with a clearance of 2.92 meters.
Nelson started the outdoor season strong, winning the long jump at the LR Bears Open with a personal best distance of 5.35 meters. The Crossville, Tenn. native is pursuing a degree in Math.
Owens was a pole vault phenom during the 2021 indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. The math major and Ocala, Fla. native competed in just two events during the indoor track season but won the event at the Buccaneer Invitational with a clearance of 3.50 meters and was named USTFCCCA All-Region.
During the outdoor season, Owens dominance continued as she won event championships at three of the first four events she competed in, including winning her first outdoor gold medal at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.37 meters. Owens collected USTFCCCA All-Region honors for the outdoor season as well, making her one of five Eagles to be named All-Region for both the outdoor and indoor seasons in 2021.
Lowe began her graduate year at Carson-Newman with a bang during the indoor season, breaking her own school record in the 60 meter run at the VMI Winter Classic with a time of 7.72 seconds. Lowe was named USTFCCCA All-Region for the indoor season, recording ten top-10 finishes in the 60 meter and 200 meter runs, including an event win at the Run As Fast As You Can Meet in the 60 meter run with a time of 7.85 seconds.
During the outdoor season, Lowe was a member of the school record women's 4x100 meter relay team, breaking or resetting the record three times during the 2021 outdoor season. The squad finished third at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships in the event with a time of 47.38 seconds. Individually, Lowe finished in the top-15 in 13 of the 14 events she competed in during the outdoor season in the 100 meter and 200 meter runs. The Jefferson City, Tenn. native recorded a 3.63 GPA while pursuing her masters of business administration.
Despite not having a cross country season, Strayer excelled in the distance events during the indoor season, finishing in the top-15 of every race she competed in. The Murfreesboro, Tenn. native continued her strong push in the outdoor season, placing third at the LR Bears Open in the 5000 meter run with a time of 18:45.21. Strayer was also a finalist for the SAC Women's Track & Field Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, recording a 3.97 GPA while pursuing a degree in exercise science.
Zadroga was the model of consistency during the 2021 track & field season, placing inside the top-10 in six of the seven events she competed at in the pole vault and javelin. The Tolland, Conn. native took home the bronze medal at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.07 meters. Zadroga also finished eighth in the javelin at the event with a toss of 30.26 meters. Zadroga earned a 3.84 GPA while majoring in exercise science.
All ten athletes were also part of a record breaking group of 176 Eagles that were named to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll for the 2020-21 academic year.
The Division II Google Cloud Academic All-America program is partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 Division II Academic All-America teams.
The district consists of the South Atlantic Conference, Peach Belt and Conference Carolinas. By earning slots on the all-district team, all ten eagles are eligible for an All-American nod to be announced in mid-August with three teams.
