Isaiah Kyle earns second place finish with school record at National Championships

ALLENDALE, Mich. - Isaiah Kyle reset the record books and earned silver medal in the high jump with a clearance of 2.17 meters at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

The Wingate transfer had to battle blistering wind and cold temperatures to earn the first NCAA Outdoor National Championship medal for a Carson-Newman jumper in four years.

"Isaiah in terrible weather conditions absolutely brought his best, says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs. "He battled one of the jumpers in the world. He and (jumps) coach Stepp knew the conditions and plan was perfect for the conditions."

Kyle cleared his first two jumps of 2.00 meters and 2.05 meters with ease, clearing the bar on his first attempt in both categories to pull into the top eight of the standings.

Kyle made things look easy in the third round, clearing 2.08 meters on his first jump to clinch a top five spot in the event. The Morristown native remained a perfect four-for-four on his next jump with a clearance of 2.11 meters, just 0.01 meters behind his season-high mark.

After missing his first two jumps, Kyle cleared the bar at 2.14 meters, breaking the school record set by Tanner Stepp in 2017 and putting him squarely into the top-three.

Five minutes later, Kyle cleared 2.17 meters on his second jump, resetting the school record once again.

Neither Kyle nor Ushaun Perara of Texas A&M-Commerce nor Brayden Sorenson could clear the bar at 2.20 meters in their three attempts. Based on preliminary standings entering the meet, Kyle earned the second-place medal behind Perara.

The finish is the second time in school history an Eagle athlete has finished second in the men's high jump at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. Tanner Stepp finished second at the 2017 event with his previous school record mark of 2.13 meters.

"To have a guy who breaks the outdoor school record, has a personal best outdoor best and his best outdoor finish at Nationals is a credit to his character and competitive spirit," says Needs.

On the track, Devon Moore continued his dominant senior season by winning his heat of the 200 meter prelims. The Baxley, Ga. native earned first in his heat and second overall with a time of 21.16 seconds, beating out the second-place competitor by 0.08 seconds. Benjamin Azamati of West Texas A&M took first place overall with a time of 20.96 seconds. Moore has now finished in the top-three in the 200 meter run at four straight events.

"Devon took care of business today - winning his heat and setting himself up for a big day tomorrow," says Needs. "He will be busy on finals day - and that is what we like."

Moore will wrap up the weekend in Michigan for the Eagles on Saturday, May, 29 in the finals of the 100 meter and 200 meter runs. The 100 meter final will begin at 2:20 PM while the 200 meter final is set to begin at 3:20 PM. Live stats and video can be found at ncaa.com.