Mumaw and Stayte Card Runner-Up Finishes to Cap NAIA Outdoor Championships

NAIA Outdoor Champs Central

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Jared Stayte and Joel Mumaw each carded a runner-up finish on the final day at the NAIA National Championships for an incredible ending for the Trojans.

Taylor ended in 16th matching its 16 points, which is the third time in the past five season the squad has recorded 15 points and a top-20 finish.

Stayte ran his career best time in the steeplechase as he finished runner up in the finals on Friday. Stayte ran with the top four throughout the race before making a run at the National Champion on the final lap, which gave him breathing room as the second-place finisher. Stayte was an NAIA All-American a year ago when he finished seventh and improved by five spots to end a terrific athletic career at TU.

Mumaw was next to take the track and clocked a time of 3:59.62 to finish less than half a second behind the champion but only three-hundredths of a second ahead of third place. A bunched finish saw the top eight runners finish within 1.2 seconds. Mumaw's incredible race makes him an NAIA All-American for the first time on the track.

The pair of runner-up finishes are the best individual performances for the Taylor men since Sammy Summers finished runner-up in the long jump in 2022.