Concord’s Carnett ‘on track’ for nationals

ATHENS — While many of her classmates are just trying to survive their first year of college, Shawnee Carnett is “on track” to go to the NCAA Division II national track and field meet.

The 18-year-old freshman from Sugar Grove, Va., became a “provisional qualifier” for the nationals in the 800-meter run on March 12 when she was clocked at 2:14.18 at the Coastal Carolina Invitational in Conway, S.C. — Concord’s first outdoor meet of the year.

She bettered that last weekend with a 2:12.34 at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. She is currently fifth among women in the national 800-meter standings, and the only freshman in the top 10.

“She’s definitely got the tools, and works very hard,” said Concord track and field coach Mike Cox. “She’s very talented. I told her, ‘It’s just scary, the potential that’s there.’

“The mental aspect is all we’ve got to work on — and I think she’s handling it very well, as a freshman.”

Carnett said about her performance at Duke, “Oh, gosh, I felt so good. It was a really, really good feeling, because that was my best race of the season so far.”

She said, “There were lots of fast girls, a lot of Division I schools” at the Duke meet. But the 2009 graduate of Marion High School said she didn’t feel intimidated. “In high school, it seemed like we had a lot of big schools around (in meets). I knew there would be fast girls, but I think I went into it with a good attitude.”

Carnett, described by Cox as having a “sprinter’s background,” has run distances ranging from 100 meters to a mile run in her first college season. Cox said, “She’s got range. She ran cross-country for us (in the fall) as well, which is really going to help her, especially in the 800.”

Cox said that Carnett ran a personal best in the 200-meter run at Duke. “So in all aspects of her training, it’s going well,” he said.

Her time of 2:14 in a high school 800-meter competition caught the attention of several college coaches, but her choice of schools had already been sealed. Cox said that a former Mountain Lion in football and track, Joey Carroll, was her coach at Marion and had a big hand in that.

Cox said, “From her sophomore year she was coming to Concord. She really blossomed late, as a senior. She qualified for nationals … . With that, her stock definitely went up, but she’d already committed to Concord and was coming here. And we’re very excited to have her here.”

He continued, “She’s not afraid to work hard. She always wants more in practice. … With her, it’s just making sure we don’t over-do it. With her, I don’t have to worry about pushing her, because she’s going to push herself. I’ve got to worry more about keeping her within the bounds.”

Carnett said, “That’s a big thing. I always feel like I have to go further in practice. He (Cox) always has to tell me that I have to have ‘easy days.’ I’m learning, but — it’s hard.”

The Coastal Carolina meet came at the same time as the nationals in indoor track, so Carnett technically became the first provisional qualifier in outdoor track at 800 meters this year. Cox said that meant “she was sitting at No. 1 in the nation for a little bit. Now that we’re getting into the middle of the outdoor season, more and more girls are starting to qualify.”

Carnett said about preparing for the Coastal Carolina meet, “We were outside in the warm, all week in practice, and I was running so hard and I felt so good about the week. I’d never practiced so hard. I think I was just so confident about it.”

The run at Duke moved her up in the national standings from 10th to fifth. More importantly, the time she recorded has been good enough in each of the last three years to make the national cutoff.

A female running in under 2:10 is an automatic qualifier, a mark achieved by only four girls last year, Cox said. The rest of the field of approximately 18 girls will be filled out by provisional qualifiers.

The national finals will be on May 27-29, hosted this year in Charlotte by Johnson C. Smith University.

In addition to Carnett’s performances, Lance McDaniel and Megan Savioli have set new Concord school records in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 400-meter hurdles respectively this spring.

Cox said, “They can feed off of one another. When one person does well, it’s going to help another person do well. It’s going to get them excited.

“We’ve just got to keep them healthy and keep working,” he said. “With the winter that we had, it was trying at best to get out (on) the sidewalks and the roads. The distance people were out there trudging through, and doing what we could do. The poor track people were inside, running in hallways and running in the gym. It was depressing.”

Carnett said she wasn’t particularly bothered. “In high school, we had indoor track, so we ran in halls. I’d rather be outside, but either way, practice is practice,” she said.

Today, the Concord squad is scheduled to compete in the Glenville State Invitational. Cox said both the men and women’s squads are young this year. “It’s going well. It’s coming around,” he said. “We’re holding our own.”

Carnett is not complacent about her running times. “I think I have a big improvement coming,” she said.

And if she makes it to the nationals?

“I think I have a really good shot at placing, maybe (making) all-American,” she said. “I think the coaches have trained me really well. I think it’s going to be exciting to be in it.”

— Contact Tom Bone

at tbone@bdtonline.com

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