Rio Grande's 4x800 relay team - composed of, from left to right, freshman John Young, graduate senior Kyle Lightner, sophomore Kasy Science and sophomore Ashton Beverly - earned All-American status by finishing fifth in Friday's action at the NAIA Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships in Gainesville, Fla.

Posted: Feb 28, 2025

Rio relay unit posts All-American finish

Rio Grande Sports Information
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Rio Grande's 4x800 relay team posted an All-American finish during Friday's action at the 2025 U.S. Marines NAIA Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship, hosted by the Gainesville Sports Commission at the Alachua County Sports and Events Center at Celebration Pointe.
The quartet of freshman John Young (Leroy, OH), sophomore Ashton Beverly (Chillicothe, OH), sophomore Kasy Science (Marietta, OH) and graduate senior Kyle Lightner (Peebles, OH) placed fifth in a time of 7:40.19 - under the school outdoor record again - to earn All-American status. The top eight finishers were named All-Americans.
The unit also included junior Trevon Houston (Cleveland, OH), freshman Duncan Kogei (Eldoret, Kenya), freshman Wes Taylor (Lancaster, OH)and sophomore JJ Larue (Chillicothe, OH) as alternates.
The RedStorm was also represented on Friday by three individuals in four events.
Sophomore Zach Whitley (Wheelersburg, OH) participated in the 3,000-meter race walk final, but was disqualified, while junior Trevon Houston (Cleveland, OH) finished 16th in 400-meter dash preliminaries with a time of 50.60 and did not qualify for final.
Sophomore Troy Mason (Grenville, Grenada) narrowly missed qualifying for the final in the 60-meter dash after posting a time of 6.76 and placing ninth in the preliminaries.
Mason did reach Saturday's final in the 200-meter dash after finishing fifth in the prelims with a time of 21.24.
The title race is set for 3:40 p.m.
"Zach was DQ'd for form while in 6th place, but it was huge for him to make the finals and compete," said Rio head coach Matt Paxton. "Tra was the last qualifier in the 400 and I thought he did well for his first trip. Troy made the finals in the 200 and was under our outdoor 200 record again. He'll be an All-American tomorrow barring a DQ."
In addition to Mason, Rio Grande will have two others competing on Saturday.
Sophomore Rowen Gerlach (New Haven, WV) will take part in the shot put. The preliminaries and the finals are scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Junior Tyler Jenkins (Barnesville, OH) will run in the 5,000-meter run final at 4:20 p.m.
Jenkins grabbed the last of the 12 qualifying positions in the event on Thursday with a time of 14:45.84.
Live video of Saturday's final day of competition is available at http://www.NAIANetwork.com.