MARION, Ind. -- Throughout his two seasons at Shawnee State, Isaiah Lanoy has come up big when his opportunity to showcase his talent against the best of the best has come around.

A stout 3,000 meter steeplechase performer who has showcased terrific form in the event throughout his career, Lanoy continued to showcase excellent form by running a 9:24.02 to comfortably qualify for the finals of the event despite another scary final lap fall in Wednesday evening's NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship preliminary round, which was held at the Indiana Wesleyan University Track and Field Complex in Marion, Ind.

Race Highlights

From the outset of Wednesday evening's preliminaries, Lanoy proved to be more than up to the task -- as the sophomore quickly established top-three positioning on the opening lap of his heat in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and stayed there throughout much of the race, running consistent 1:14 splits to post an 8:08.62 heading into the final lap.

Lanoy looked primed for a top-three finish in his heat, but as the sophomore climbed the final steeple, Lanoy fell in a scary face-first fall straight into the water. In a resilent effort, however, Lanoy was still able to get up and finish the race despite the hard fall, running a 9:24.02 to finish with the ninth fastest time and seal a finish that will be better than his 19th-place effort in 2024 by simply starting Friday's 1:20 p.m. final -- as Lanoy will be one of 14 competitors who will race on Friday in the event by virtue of qualifying.

In running his 9:24.02, Lanoy outran the fastest 3,000 meter steeplechase runner coming into Wednesday's event -- British Columbia's Dylan Uhrich -- by over a tenth of a second, and finished just 5.1 seconds back of the top preliminary time on Wednesday, which was set by British Columbia's Maximilien Filion, despite his fall which arguably cost Lanoy no less than four seconds on the final lap.

"I can't say enough about the effort that Isaiah gave tonight," Shawnee State Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Conner Flynn said. "The perseverance and toughness that it takes to get up and finish after the fall he took is admirable, let alone qualify for the final. He is a true competitor and one of the top steeplechasers in the NAIA for a reason. He's a little banged up, but looking forward to Friday."
 
Additional
 
Isaiah Lanoy, by virtue of qualifying for Friday's 1:20 p.m. final, was the only River States Conference runner to advance to the finals. The 14 qualifiers for Friday afternoon's 3,000 meter steeplechase final are separated by just 9.71 seconds between them in what is an air-tight field.
 
All NAIA track races and field events can be watched at https://www.naia.org/watch/index.