In a thrilling race on the national stage, EMU’s Hannah Chappell-Dick (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) had a strong finish to grab the silver medal in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. Kat Lehman (Dover, Ohio/Dover) finished as the top freshman runner in the nation, taking ninth overall in the 3000m.
Chappell-Dick completes an incredible indoor season with the race, earning All-American honors for the first time in her career.
Chappell-Dick led the pack in the early stages of the race, only to be passed by a pair of runners with a lap to go. Coming around the final curve, the junior made a move on the outside to slip back ahead of one of the women, earning her second-place finish. She was just 0.64 behind the gold medalist, senior Alison Maxwell of Middlebury. Chappell-Dick’s time was also a mere 0.44 off her ODAC record time of 4:56.37, which was run on Feb. 21 on the same JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
After Friday’s preliminaries, EMU’s miler had the top time of the 17 participants, clocking at 5:01.22.
Chappell-Dick becomes Eastern Mennonite’s first All-American since men’s shot putter Nathan Turner in 2007. The top eight in an event earn All-American status. The last women’s All-American was Megan Mlinarchik in the pole vault in 2005. The silver medal at the national meet also gave Chappell-Dick the highest finish by a Royal since Hall of Honor member Laura Rosenberger was the runner-up in the indoor pole vault in 2002. Rosenberger won four indoor and outdoor titles during her time and remains EMU’s only National Champion in track & field.
During the indoor season, Chappell-Dick broke four EMU records (800m, 1000m, mile and distance medley relay) and also took down the ODAC record for the mile. She won three events at the ODAC Championships (800m, mile and DMR) and earlier this week was named the South/Southeast Region Athlete of the Year.
Lehman completed her incredible first indoor track campaign by running in the 3000m at Nationals. She broke the 10-minute mark for the third time this season, taking ninth place at the meet in 9:58.15. Lehman missed All-American status by just one spot. She broke the ODAC record in the event earlier in the season with a time of 9:55.49. Eighth place at nationals crossed in 9:54.57.
She was one of just two first years running in the 3000m at the National Championships, with the other finishing behind EMU’s runner in 15th place.
Lehman also went to the National Championships in cross country this past fall, giving the freshman two trips to nationals in her two chances. She also broke program records this year in the 3000m and 5000m, both events which she also won at the ODAC Championships.
Eastern Mennonite’s outdoor season begins next weekend, with the W&L Carnival in Lexington on Friday and Saturday.