KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The men's track and field program at Shawnee State, as a whole, has showcased incredible transformation and growth within the last six months.
That has coalesced into a highly competitive group of NAIA Men's Indoor Track and Field National Championship Qualifiers -- as six individuals, including Dylan French, Cody Hesler, Isaiah Lanoy, Kaiden Lanoy, Trevor Lanoy and Luke Rader -- will all represent Shawnee State at the 2025 U.S. Marines NAIA Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships, which are being held at Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe in Gainesville, Fla.
Of the six individuals above, three of them are from either Adams, Lawrence or Scioto County -- and of the eight qualifying individuals between men's and women's track and field, five of them are from either Adams, Lawrence, Scioto or Pike County. The additional trio of runners -- the Lanoy triplets -- are from a regional county, hailing from Lancaster and Fairfield County.
Relay Event Lineup
Relay-wise, Shawnee State's distance medley relay quartet of French, Hesler, Isaiah Lanoy and Trevor Lanoy's school-record time of 10:07.57 in the event resulted in the quartet claiming the 13th-best time among DMR units competing at the NAIA Men's Indoor Track and Field National Championships. Rader and Kaiden Lanoy will serve as alternates for the event.
Shawnee State's DMR unit will compete at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, with the potential to qualify for Saturday's finals at 5 p.m. March 1.
Individual Event Lineup
From an individual event standpoint, Dylan French, Isaiah Lanoy and Luke Rader will all represent Shawnee State in the one mile, 3,000 meter run and long jump, respectively.
French, who clicked off a 4:19.81 in the one mile for a personal best at the Marshall Alumni Classic on Jan. 11 for a personal best, is 20th among those who will be competing at the NAIA Men's Indoor Track and Field National Championships in the event. It's the first NAIA National Championship appearance in either indoor or outdoor track for French, who has set three personal bests in his six previous indoor track and field meets this season.
French will run in Friday afternoon's 12:05 p.m. preliminaries in the one mile -- and has the potential to qualify for Saturday afternoon's 12:35 p.m. finals.
Lanoy, who nabbed a 8:23.16 in the 3,000 meter run, will make his second NAIA Track and Field National Championship after making an NAIA National Championship appearance in the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase last May. Between his efforts on the track and as a cross country harrier -- where Lanoy finished inside the top-70 at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships -- Isaiah Lanoy, like Shawnee State women's distance runner Olivia Cisco, is 3-for-3 in national championship appearances since May 2024.
Lanoy, who currently holds the eighth best time in the 3,000, will run in the 3,000 meter prelims on Friday, Feb. 28 at 4:40 p.m. -- with Saturday's 3,000 meter final on March 1 at 3:15 p.m. to follow.
Rader, like French, will be making his first appearance at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships when the three-day event commences next week. The Minford product has made a significant impact within the first two months of his career at Shawnee State, already posting the 16th-best long jump, a 7.12-meter launch, to put himself in the national championship mix.
Rader competes in the long jump preliminaries and finals, which begin at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28.
For more on the three-day NAIA National Championships and a preview prior to the beginning of the 2025 U.S. Marines NAIA Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship, visit www.ssubears.com or check out the below social medias.
