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Carson Krack, Carroll College · The Red Banner Race Report

0:00
The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association recently announced its 2026 NAI Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year, with Carol College Sophomore Carson Crack earning the honor.
0:13
Carson, who hails from Whitefish, Montana, won the Decathlon at the 2026 NAI Championships with a score of 7,522 points, leading a 1-2 finish in the event for the Saints, with teammate Tucker Monaco second with 7,167 points.
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That score was just four points off his seasonal best of 7,526, which he set at the Brian Clay multi's event in Azusa, California earlier this season.
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The highest score in the NAIA since 2001.
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Carson was the Frontier Conference MVP and field athlete of the Meet.
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And while he is now the second athlete from Carroll to win the NAI Outdoor Tracking Field Decathlon in the last five years, he is the first Carroll student athlete to earn the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year Award.
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Carson can run a 10.9700, a mid-48 second 400, a 423-1500, run 110-meter hurdles in 14.29 seconds, 400 hurdles in 52.86, throw the shot put 40.5 feet, 126 feet in the discus, 172 feet in the javelin, can high jump 6'7, and pull vaults about 14 feet.
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Oh, and don't forget, he can long jump 23 feet.
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He would have placed in the top eight outright in multiple events had he done them individually at the NAI Championships.
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As a high school senior, he competed in seven separate events at the state finals, winning two of them.
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Clearly an incredibly versatile athlete, and only halfway through his collegiate career, we are sure to see more yet to come.
1:45
Welcome to the Red Banner Race Report Podcast, and thanks for joining me.
1:50
Thank you.
1:51
Yeah, well, let's talk about your amazing recent accomplishment because back-to-back NAI decathlet champion.
2:00
So congratulations.
2:02
You just took home your second straight title.
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Um, you beat the runner up by 355 points, I think, who also happened to be your teammate.
2:12
Is that right?
2:12
Oh yeah.
2:13
Yeah.
2:14
Yeah.
2:14
So talk about what that felt like and um how your season kind of unfolded and if that was what you expected, and just about that moment.
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Anything you want to tell us?
2:24
Uh well, I'm very glad to have won it again.
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Um, that's exactly what I was planning on doing this season.
2:29
Um, the season kind of going into it, I was expecting big things.
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Um, I had some big goals in mind.
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It started off really strong, especially in California down at the Brian Clay.
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So I was really happy to get that 7,500 mark right off the bat.
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Then um then that week after we had a conference meet, which we were Tucker and I both were very tired for that.
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And so we were just kind of out there to do it.
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But then we're able to get back in the 75s or nationals too.
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So I was glad to be there.
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And Tucker was all had also had a great season, too.
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We're both first time over 7K this year.
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So coach is excited and so are we.
3:01
Yeah, I bet.
3:02
Well, coming into this year with the spotlight on you, and you know you're the defending champion.
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How did your mental approach change compared to when you came in as a freshman and you really didn't have any background or any results to build off of?
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How was that different?
3:19
Um, last year was a ton of fun because I mean I was ranked one going into it, but not by a whole lot.
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And I barely won.
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I only I won by 13 points last year, I think, over Justin Krabenhoff of Eastern Oregon.
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So um that was a really surprising win last year.
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Very glad I got it.
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But um this year was definitely going after some records.
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I was really hoping to get the conference record and the um Carroll record.
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I was able to do that.
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So I was very glad with that.
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And I was overall just I was really hoping to win nationals again.
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I was able to, and I'm glad that I had the season I did.
3:49
So now, did you choose to attend Carroll particularly because they had a coach or an emphasis on the multi-event approach?
3:59
Is that something that went into your decision as you were looking coming out of high school?
4:03
Oh, 100%.
4:04
Yeah.
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So I reached out to a bunch of colleges.
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Um, my junior year, or sorry, my senior year off of my junior year statistics.
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Um, and Carol's the first one to get back to me.
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I reached out to plenty of schools, but Carol's the one that gave me interest, which I was very um pleased about.
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And so when I had my visit there, I met Coach Harry Clark.
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And um, Coach Clark himself back in the day, used to be a multi down in Houston, also MSU, and he was a really incredible athlete.
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So he uh he knew what he was doing.
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He was a great athlete.
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His PR is still better than mine.
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Um, I'm hoping to get that next year.
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But he uh he knew he knows what he's doing.
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He's uh the best coach I probably ever had and probably ever will have.
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He knows exactly what I need and uh what he needs to do to make me as best as I can be.
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So that's a good partnership, then for sure.
4:50
That definitely helps you uh excel.
4:54
Well, I want to ask you about the weather.
4:57
It was not very predictable unless you were predicting rain every day.
5:01
Uh, and then we had delays and there was you know some lightning that kept postponing things.
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So, how did that fit into your game plan and strategy?
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You know, did you have to adapt some things?
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Did it uh did it kind of affect your mental approach?
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How did that all play into you know the the couple of days that you were competing?
5:20
Yeah.
5:20
I mean, honestly, as Montana athletes, we enjoy the rain a lot more than we like the heat because uh we're not used to the heat at all.
5:27
I mean, it was a really warm year this year, but uh usually we've never had a lot of humidity.
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So that was my first time ever competing in like true humidity and uh the direct sun.
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So that part was great.
5:37
Day one was nice having the heat, but then day two, the rain, the only annoying part I'd say was the lightning delays.
5:43
Um that definitely messes with your mental, especially in pole vault, where we had to rewarm up for another hour and stuff.
5:48
So I guess the weather did um kind of change up the game plan a little bit.
5:53
Pole vault was a lot more of a survive than it should have been, but uh compared to last year back in Marion, um, it was a lot better this year.
6:00
So a lot easier to keep my head in the game.
6:03
Okay, interesting.
6:04
Well, you were recently named the UST FCC A.
6:09
Whoa that's a mouthful, uh, National Men's Field Athlete of the Year.
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So this is the first ever for Carroll College history.
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And what does that milestone mean to you and to your program and to your team and coach?
6:21
Well, to me, I'm honestly kind of surprised.
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I wasn't expecting any big award, but I'm uh very happy and honored that I got it.
6:28
Um, as far as the team as well and the coaches, I mean, the program, it's awesome to see these sort of um this recognition for our program, not just me, but for Tucker and coach as well.
6:38
I mean, I love um beating these other schools as well.
6:41
Like I like knowing that Carol is at least the best multi-program in the NAIA um as of this year.
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But just in general, I like having kids notice that the NAIA is also a really good place to come.
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Like um, we get everybody gets usually caught up in the D1 statistic and the D1 idea, but you're actually able to get really good competition and actually win some stuff when you got a good coach and good teammates behind you.
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So I think it's great for the team, and kids see that and are like, well, Carol's a good place to be.
7:07
So yeah, that's one reason this podcast got started because the NAI definitely has incredible athletes with amazing achievements, and it definitely is kind of sidelined by the D1 focus, like you said.
7:19
But hey, we're shining the light and uh hopeful, hopefully spreading the word.
7:23
We all appreciate that.
7:24
Thank you.
7:25
Oh, thank you.
7:25
I appreciate it too.
7:27
Uh well, in high school, you were already incredibly versatile.
7:31
You were doing quite a few events.
7:33
So your senior year, I looked up your stats.
7:37
You were third in the 400, you won the 110 and 300 hurdles, seventh in the four by one, second in the four by four, second in the long jump, fourth in the triple jump, which where I live in Michigan, we don't even have triple jump as a state event.
7:51
No.
7:51
Oh, that's that's fun.
7:52
Yeah, and then you did all of that at one state meet.
7:55
And so again, where I live in Michigan, there is a four-event athlete limit here in our state.
7:59
You cannot compete in more than four events.
8:02
So I'm assuming looking over these stats, there is not that rule in Montana.
8:07
Uh, there is one, actually.
8:08
There's uh five event and then two relay rules.
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So you can only do five open events, and then you could also toss in the two relays.
8:15
Um, I qualified for 10 events uh my senior year, and so we had to pick and choose which ones I was gonna do.
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And uh yeah, that's definitely a process because you could have the two relays, a four by one and the four by four for sure.
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But then between the jumps and the sprints, I had to choose which ones I was gonna do.
8:30
So right.
8:31
Well, I guess decathlon is your thing if you were in 10 event qualifications.
8:38
Yeah, exactly.
8:39
Uh well, in Michigan, it is four total, it is not four individual and then relays.
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And we also do not do a a multi-day state meet, it is one day and you're done.
8:50
Oh, wow.
8:51
Yeah, that's insane.
8:53
That would be a lot.
8:54
Yeah, there's a girl in my local area.
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She lives a couple towns over.
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Um, she's going to the University of Michigan.
9:02
She's going to be a hept athlete.
9:03
She's an excellent hurdler, long jumper.
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She just got into high jump and already jumped 5'4.
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So, you know, very, very versatile.
9:11
But she had a really tough time getting from the pit to the hurdles for the prelims and then back, you know, that can be very destroying my life there, too.
9:20
Yep, yeah.
9:21
I bet.
9:22
That's that's a gamut right there.
9:24
It's fun though.
9:25
I really enjoy it.
9:26
Well, give me time to think, so you just get from thing to thing and you get a put your head down and work.
9:31
So well, I guess it wouldn't get boring.
9:34
No, no, it's never boring.
9:36
That's the best part.
9:38
So that that was my next question.
9:40
So you have all these technical events.
9:42
I mean, pole vault is extremely technical.
9:45
You've got discus, you've got javelin, I mean, all these different events that are very, very unique.
9:50
So clearly you did quite a few of them in high school, but when you went to the collegiate scene and you added some more events into your uh uh decathlon, what was the biggest learning curve when it came to one of those events?
10:03
Like which one when you transitioned was the most difficult to adapt to?
10:08
Man, pole vault is always the the golden one there.
10:11
It's the hardest.
10:12
Um, my coach always says to be a good multi, you have to either be good at the pole vault or good at the hurdles.
10:18
And uh I was good at the hurdles, and so unfortunately I didn't have any base coming into pole vault.
10:22
My brother was a pole vault, and he was a good pole vaulter too.
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Um but uh I had no background whatsoever.
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So that fall of learning the um three throws in the pole vault was definitely a killer because pole vault came along really slowly, and even still I'm getting little improvements here and there, but um it's definitely it's a very technical event, it's very enjoyable, but it takes a lot, and it's just as many reps as you can possibly do.
10:51
I interviewed a pole vaulter from my area.
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I do a podcast for local athletes.
10:56
She she had been um a pole vaulter in Oklahoma, and then she went on to compete at the Olympic trials.
11:01
Uh I think she vaulted, she vaulted 14 feet in high school.
11:06
Oh wow.
11:06
So yeah, which is pretty impressive.
11:08
Um, but she was a gymnast first, and she she said it really was a benefit and an advantage that she had some experience being upside down, as you put it.
11:16
So I'm assuming you're not coming from that background.
11:20
No, no, no, not at all.
11:21
I have some relatives that were gymnasts, but uh, I did not get that gene.
11:26
Well, I am afraid of heights, so I also had zero zero desire to ever throw myself into the air.
11:33
Understandable.
11:33
Yep.
11:34
Well, as you have to be skilled in many of these disciplines, how in the world do you manage training and practicing for them all in a week?
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Because, you know, coming from a middle distance running background, you know, that's pretty standard.
11:49
You're doing one or two or maybe three things within a week, but you got a lot going on.
11:53
So how do you manage all that?
11:55
And what does an average week of practice look like for you in season?
11:59
So it's uh it's definitely a lot.
12:01
Um, it's not really uh for someone who likes to lay around and be lazy all day long.
12:06
Um, but it really helps having a coach that knows what he's doing and was a decathlet himself.
12:11
So he knows exactly what he liked in college and what was good for him and how to treat a multi too.
12:16
So um I'll say we have plenty of practices.
12:20
So if we uh in the morning, sometimes we'll uh we'd lift or something.
12:24
Most of the time we don't, though, do much in the morning, unless it's like a jab throw or a disc throw.
12:28
Then we have a class or two, and then normally we'd move on to a practice about 11 or noon, uh, which that would last for about two or three hours where we're going over.
12:36
We would start out with a throw, usually it'd be disc, especially in the spring.
12:40
And then we would transition to something like high jump or hurdles.
12:43
And after that, we'd actually do a workout.
12:44
And then at night, um, on Tuesdays and Thursdays were our lift days as well.
12:48
Um, that would be after classes and stuff.
12:50
So I mean the practices are spread out, and it's definitely a full day, but it definitely makes it worth it when it comes time for the cathlon.
12:58
Mm-hmm.
12:59
Well, I can only imagine how many calories you're burning.
13:03
A lot.
13:05
Yeah, so a food plan.
13:06
So yeah, I was gonna say I'm sure nutrition plays a huge role, particularly when you're competing continuously over the course of several days.
13:13
So when I saw that you were from Whitefish, um, I said to my husband, Ooh, that sounds really familiar.
13:18
I think that's where Hammer Hammer Nutrition is.
13:20
Exactly.
13:21
And so I have used their products for a long time.
13:24
I've done marathons and some ultras.
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And so I find their stuff's awesome because um they do a lot of science and research and they explain to you why they do it, and then they don't put sugar in their stuff.
13:36
Yeah, which is for me is great.
13:37
Yeah.
13:38
And then citric acid, um, a lot of athletes have tooth decay because so many of their sports drinks contain so much sugar in citric acid.
13:46
So um my question is do you use any of their products since you live so closely to where they're based?
13:52
Oh, I definitely do.
13:53
I uh I've used their electrolyte tablets or like little pills for glass since my senior year, basically.
13:59
I have I have them during practices or competition as well.
14:02
Also, a lot of the the recoverite stuff for sure.
14:05
I've used plenty.
14:06
Um I don't really have any affiliation with them besides I live here and I know a lot of people at Whitefish who are college athletes that do um and are sponsored or at least affiliated with them.
14:16
Right.
14:17
Uh but they do have great stuff.
14:18
We've used their stuff forever and it's always around town.
14:21
So and in high school, we'd always get a discount through the football team as well.
14:24
So nice.
14:25
We'd always use their stuff.
14:26
So yeah, it seems like they're very supportive of athletes and very generous in their time supporting different venues.
14:34
And I'm not affiliated with them either.
14:36
I just tell everyone about them because I think their stuff's good.
14:38
So their stuff is amazing.
14:39
Yeah, I've every single run in Whitefish has been sponsored by them.
14:42
So it's always fun to see the half marathons and stuff.
14:45
So yeah.
14:47
Um, for my ultra, I did they have perpetuum tablets, which instead of having to eat food, because you get to a point where you just don't want to eat anything when you've run that far.
14:56
So that was a good way to fuel too.
14:58
Well, yeah, yeah.
15:01
Uh I did one from so I live in Michigan, so I ran from this probably won't mean anything to you geographically, but ran from um Torch Lake, which is on the west side.
15:12
So we we call our state the mitten because it's shaped like a mitten.
15:16
So from one lake up the coast of Lake Michigan to Potaski.
15:20
So that was like a 50.
15:22
It was supposed to be a 50 miler and it ended up being a 52 miler because they had to reroute us.
15:26
So and you think, oh, what's 52 after 50?
15:29
But it does matter.
15:31
It does matter, it definitely matters.
15:33
Yep.
15:33
That's 50 milers, no joke.
15:35
I've uh along some friends that have done those, and uh they're not a whole lot of fun.
15:40
No, and I I yeah, I did a pretty good prep for it.
15:44
I um, you know, just did a lot of back-to-back long runs and I had done some marathons for years prior, but um I walked a lot more than I had planned to, and then my goal was to be done before dark, which which I did, but I was two miles out, I think, from the finish.
16:00
And the guy there was a hundred miler as well that started at 6 a.m.
16:04
and then we started at 11 a.m.
16:06
And like about two miles out, the hundred mile winter caught me, and I was like, Oh, come on.
16:10
That is crazy.
16:11
I know that is crazy.
16:13
Yep, and he didn't look tired, so yeah, that's it's a different breed.
16:18
Well, I did one and I haven't done one since, so that tells you all you need to know.
16:21
Fair enough.
16:22
Well, at least you did it.
16:23
You can say you did it.
16:24
That's true.
16:24
It it's it was a bucket list item.
16:26
So uh well, speaking of running that far and competing for hours on end, what are your items that you eat or fuel with or supplement with when you have to keep that energy level really high as you're going throughout those days?
16:41
So I yeah, I was never really into that much in high school and stuff, but uh my aunt, who's also an ultra-marathon runner, she's really into it.
16:48
So she kind of keeps me up on it.
16:50
But uh it's mainly uh you probably know the company, Martin, I think it's pronounced.
16:53
Yes.
16:53
So I use their caffeine gels as well as just their um um just their gels in general, their uh I think it's hydrogen gel or something.
17:02
It's basically a carb um that you can take.
17:04
But I've been using those every single meet this year.
17:07
Um, and I just get a big box of them and I have one maybe at practice at least once during a meet.
17:12
So um the caffeine's really nice.
17:14
I've never used the bicarb, I've been interested in using bicarb, but I haven't yet.
17:17
It looks really nasty, but they have some really good stuff.
17:21
And it doesn't taste good, but it's easy on the stomach.
17:23
So especially during that 1500, that really comes in clutch.
17:27
Yeah, I was gonna say I'd be interested to see how bicarb works for you versus mostly it's like the 800 guys, the 1500 guys that are taking that.
17:37
So yeah, that'd be interesting.
17:39
Um how much it matters on the 400, but yeah, I was gonna say my son takes it in the 1500.
17:44
He's an NAI runner in the 1500, and um he uh he he says he his stomach feels kind of weird afterwards.
17:52
Yeah, I can imagine.
17:53
It has a really odd consistency.
17:55
Yeah, watching someone eat it's kind of gross.
17:58
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
18:00
It's uh it's something, but I've seen a lot of guys, especially in social media, are really into it.
18:05
So it might be smart to try it out at some point if it's helping them.
18:08
So right, right.
18:09
Well, you're only a sophomore.
18:11
You've already won two national titles, you're two for two, right?
18:14
Um, you have two years, maybe three, if the NCAA five for five ends up trickling into the NAI, which I know is kind of the buzz right now.
18:24
So knowing that you have at least two years of eligibility left, what are the goals or point totals or anything technical that you're hoping to achieve as you look ahead to your next two years?
18:36
Um, well, the next two years is gonna be a whole lot of fun.
18:38
I am staying at Carroll, which is gonna be awesome.
18:41
Um, I'm really hoping to get the NAI record next year, which is 7821, I think it is.
18:46
Um, and that's very obtainable next year.
18:48
I'm really hoping to get around 8k next year as far as points.
18:51
And then my senior year is uh Olympic trial year.
18:54
So um qualifying for Olympic trials right over 8,000 points um for the A standard.
18:59
So um if I get that, that's my goal right now is to make it to the trials.
19:04
So I'm really hoping to shoot for about 81, 8,200 points by my end of my senior year, which would be awesome to just set me up well for trials and maybe have a shot at the team.
19:13
So that was on my list.
19:16
Do you have Olympic aspirations?
19:17
So I think you answered that question.
19:20
I like to keep it very uh simple.
19:22
I like to my last year's goal was to win nationals.
19:24
This year was to break the Carroll record, now next year is gonna be the national record, and then trials is my senior year.
19:30
So if I make trials and I make the team, that's great.
19:33
But if I make trials and I don't, that's also great.
19:35
So yeah.
19:36
Well, I think your success is also gonna um give you some confidence to move into the next thing, too, you know, building upon what you've already done is helpful.
19:44
Exactly.
19:45
Yeah.
19:46
Between balancing school and traveling for your meets and your competitions and your training for 10 separate events, what does a rare day of total relaxation look like for you?
19:59
I mean, every person likes to be lazy, but especially in Helena, Montana, it's really hard to be lazy when you have so much stuff around you.
20:07
Um, my roommate got me into fly fishing the last year.
20:11
So on the uh rare occasion that we have an open day, we'll do a good little road trip around the state, or at least a little few count uh counties and a bunch of different rivers and go fishing.
20:21
That's a pretty relaxed day, my book.
20:23
You get to go fishing and easy driving and at night go watch a movie or something.
20:28
So well, tell me your favorite thing about Montana.
20:31
I've never been and I have it on my.
20:33
If you ever get the chance, you have to come.
20:34
It is an amazing place.
20:35
So in Whitefish, we're only about 20, 25 minutes from uh Glacier National Park, and it's probably the most beautiful place in the country.
20:42
It's even living here my whole life, it is unbelievably beautiful.
20:46
It's actually funny.
20:46
We're having a bunch of guys, uh all the multidis from the NAI nationals are invited to come up to uh they're gonna stay at my house and we're gonna go climbing up in glacier.
20:55
So we got a half a dozen kids, six or eight kids somewhere there.
20:58
And we're all going up because I've bragged about this place for so long and it's so amazing.
21:03
I mean, glacier park's beautiful.
21:04
I've done a lot of fishing on the Missouri and the Blackfoot and uh also the Flathead Lake and Whitefish Lake are also beautiful.
21:12
Anything in Montana is beautiful.
21:14
There's always something, even in the east side where it's pretty famous for being very windy and open.
21:19
It is especially the high line, if you've ever seen photos, it's just beautiful.
21:23
It's Montana's just such an amazing place to live, and I'm so glad I'm here.
21:28
So yeah, I love Montana more.
21:31
It is awesome.
21:32
It's very beautiful.
21:34
My son got to go out, uh gosh, I don't know where he was, but um he's a student at Spring Arbor University, and he uh traveled out to they did like a sports leadership camp for a person from each sport got to go and kind of represent and and hang out and hike and do some different things with leadership for the school.
21:55
And he said it was the most beautiful place he's ever been, and he immediately wanted to book a plane.
22:00
Ticket back and go back that summer.
22:02
Yeah.
22:02
And he didn't end up doing that.
22:03
But yeah, his his uh description and his pictures and everything, it just looked fantastic.
22:10
Yeah, it is.
22:11
If you ever get the chance, I mean, honest, it is so beautiful out here.
22:14
Like I mean, I I yeah, all those athletes.
22:17
We were at Nationals and I was talking to the uh third um I think he got fourth place.
22:22
The uh oh, why am I blanking on his name?
22:26
Carter.
22:26
Um Gettin' Learn.
22:28
Get in.
22:29
He won indoor.
22:30
I'm very bad with last names, but he won the indoor um have Taffhlon.
22:34
But I was sitting there, man, I was like, dude, you gotta come out to Montana.
22:37
He was like, we're gonna get a whole group of guys to come out.
22:39
So it's just Montana, besides the decathlon and Helena and Carol and everything, like Montana's just the place to be in my head.
22:48
It's just perfect for everything I've ever wanted.
22:50
So well, sounds like you're in the right place then.
22:53
Very much so.
22:54
Very glad to be here.
22:55
Well, I have to ask as a runner, I I have a little uh not a little, a quite large fear of bears.
23:03
So uh I mean, do you run into some grizzlies here and there?
23:07
Um, I'm gonna tell you a story.
23:09
This might seriously.
23:10
But uh so the aunt I was telling you about, her husband back in 2016 was killed by a grizzly bear in a biking accident.
23:18
Oh my gosh.
23:19
So it's almost 10 years ago on June 29th is the date.
23:23
But he was a law enforcement officer and just an amazing guy.
23:26
He used to be a um track athlete at Wazoo, so Washington State and also Montana or University of Montana.
23:32
Um great guy.
23:33
His name was Brad Treat.
23:34
But he uh yeah, we've had a lot of experience with bears um and living around bears, especially recently too.
23:40
Everybody's kind of there's a lot of stuff in the news.
23:42
And uh a guy was killed a couple weeks ago, I think during nationals, right before nationals, um, up in Glacier Park on Mount Brown.
23:49
But the thing is with bears is I mean, they're big and they're scary, but they're also super beautiful, and they were there way before we ever were.
23:56
So 90% of the time, if a bear attacks someone, it's because it's the human's fault.
24:01
Um, which is just kind of sad to say, but it is true.
24:05
Um, but yeah, bears are a very uh scary creature.
24:08
I think people don't treat them with the respect they deserve.
24:10
Yeah, I think people get too close as a kid.
24:12
We'd always like we'll look at them from a across the valley or something, but you don't get close.
24:16
Right.
24:16
Um last year we were hiking and we came pretty close encountered with it, but bears won't attack you if you're not an idiot, basically.
24:23
Stuff does happen, of course.
24:24
There is like accidental stuff, but if you're in an open field and there's a bear, do not approach it, basically.
24:30
And that will leave you alone.
24:32
But yeah, I never in any corner of my mind have I thought, oh, there's a giant predatory animal.
24:37
Let me get closer.
24:39
There you'd be surprised at the people that no, I wouldn't be surprised.
24:43
I would not be surprised at all.
24:46
Yeah, you see the same stuff in Yellowstone as well.
24:48
So it's yeah, that's that's the one thing that has kept me from going out west and hiking, and it might sound kind of cowardly, but no, honestly, I mean, like you only see a bear one in ten hikes.
25:01
Like I've hiked so many times, and you don't see a bear often.
25:04
Last year when we saw that bear, that was the first bear I've seen in probably four years, and I've hiked in glacier every single summer multiple times.
25:10
So they're rare, but um, especially this it's been a very warm spring as well.
25:14
So they've came out early and they're very aggressive in the spring, as well as after they have cubs and stuff as well.
25:20
So grizzlies, black bears are a little less scary, but grizzlies are the main one.
25:25
Um just stay away, basically.
25:27
Yeah, yeah.
25:30
Yeah, there was uh a lot of people pack a lot of guns and stuff as well.
25:34
But um, I think uh bear spray is probably as much as you need, just stay away and especially trail running.
25:41
So summer, my aunt she does a lot of trail running up and she does Mount Brown every single Sunday of every single week during the summer.
25:47
So it's a it's a really good hike, but even a harder run, but very much so bear territory.
25:52
And she sees bears and she has PTSD, of course, but she uh she just stays away from them and they stay away from her.
26:00
So right.
26:01
Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
26:02
That's really hard.
26:05
It's just one million chance, so you can't do much against it.
26:08
Right, right.
26:09
Well, and being educated and prepared is also important.
26:12
So sounds like you're very smart about when you head out.
26:16
I was gonna say if you have a bunch of decathles, maybe take your javelin with you.
26:19
I don't know.
26:20
Yeah, we have three of them in our garage.
26:22
Okay.
26:24
Probably not the best weapon of choice, but I guess it's better than nothing.
26:28
Yeah, it is it is better than nothing, but I would not want to get that close to a bear.
26:32
No, me either.
26:34
No, absolutely not.
26:35
Well, in Michigan, we don't have grizzlies, but we do have black bears.
26:37
So they're a little uh scary.
26:41
But they're still bears, they're still very much so bears.
26:44
They are, they absolutely are.
26:45
So uh yeah.
26:47
Wow, this has been an awesome conversation.
26:50
I am always fascinated by someone that has this many talents because even running in a straight line for me sometimes was challenging.
26:58
So meeting somebody who has a lot of talent and aptitude and so many different things is quite impressive.
27:05
And I think that the amazing achievements that you've just started to have are clearly the beginning of a career history that's yet to be written.
27:12
So thanks for joining me and taking time out to chat about it.
27:15
Thank you so much.
27:16
I gotta get back to a run.
27:17
That uh that Tucker teammate, he uh he lived with me during the summer.
27:20
So Okay.
27:21
Right before right before we called, uh, he was uh he came upstairs, like, oh yeah, let's go on a run.
27:26
So I gotta go run, apparently.
27:28
Yeah, gotta get back at it, right?
27:30
No rest for the for the weird.
27:32
Yeah, we got a couple days off, but now we're back at it.
27:34
So all right.
27:35
Well, Carson, it was so awesome to talk to you, and I can't wait to see what you do next.
27:40
Thanks so much for tuning in to the Red Banner Race Report.
27:43
I can't wait to feature more cross-country and track and field athletes from the NAIA, so stay tuned because it just might be you.
27:50
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27:54
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28:02
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28:05
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