Nalbandyan, Methum claim NAIA All-American honors on final day

On the final day of the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, TMU earned two All-American awards in the form of fourth-placed finishes from Seanna Nalbandyan (women's 400-meter hurdles) and Wesley Methum (men's 5,000 meters).
 
"The greater the challenge, the sweeter the victory," Master's head coach Zach Schroeder said. "This championship was a culminating moment in a year full of challenges overcome by trusting God's sovereignty."
 
Nalbandyan earned NAIA All-American honors in the women's 400-meter hurdles for the third time in her career, becoming just the second Mustang in program history to receive All-American recognition on three occasions, joining Karis Frankian (six-time All-American).
 
While Nalbandyan had been on this stage before, Schroeder said this All-American award "is the sweetest because of what it took to get there."
 
"Seanna is the embodiment of overcoming obstacles," Schroeder said. "All the tracks in Santa Clarita have been closed for over a year. I could count the number of times Seanna had the opportunity to practice on a track in the past six months on my two hands, and when she did, she had to drive over an hour to get there, not knowing if she'd be able to get on.


 
"The majority of her training happened on TMU's athletic field or on a 400-meter grass loop we marked out at Central Park with no hurdles. Never once did I hear her complain."
 
After placing seventh in both of her previous appearances at nationals, Nalbandyan finished in a career-best fourth place on Friday. Running in lane two, she was in a compact group of runners battling for fourth through sixth places rounding the final turn.
 
The Mustang senior then separated herself before crossing the finish line in a time of 1:01.69, just .03 seconds off her own Master's record that she set in 2018.
 
"All I had going through my head for that 100 was, 'It's not over until it's over,'" Nalbandyan said. "I just gave it my all and praise God that He allowed me such a high finish."
 
Methum then capped off TMU's participation at the national championships with a personal-best performance in the 5,000-meter finals, which he entered with the top qualifying time from the preliminaries on Thursday.
 
"Phenomenal racing out of Wes Methum," Schroeder said. "The prelims yesterday and the final today were perhaps the most intelligent races I've ever seen from one of my athletes. Wes responded perfectly to every move with absolute confidence.
 
"Today was truly a gift from the Lord. Wes has done all the work necessary to compete at this level and God was gracious to bless with him with this opportunity."
 
The team captain shaved off .86 seconds from Thursday to finish fourth in a time of 14:46.40, earning his first All-American award on the track after claiming All-American honors in cross country last month.


 
"I am so thankful for the opportunity the Lord gave me to race today," Methum said. "Learning to have a greater level of trust has been a big piece of this season. Not only trusting the training, the team and my coach, but ultimately trusting God and where He has me."
 
From fourth position at the start, Methum immediately moved up a spot into third, dropping no lower than sixth place throughout the race. He then surged back up to third after the first 3K. With just over three laps to go, a runner passed Methum and their feet got tangled, causing Methum to stumble momentarily, as the Santa Rosa native dropped to fifth place.
 
"I really had no idea how fast they were going to be pushing the pace and I was just planning on sitting in the front pack," Methum said of his race strategy. "There was quite a bit of surges throughout the race, which made it hurt pretty bad the last couple laps."
 
However, he saved his fastest lap (1:05.20) by over two seconds for his last one, using a powerful final kick to move up one spot and finish in the top-four.
 
His strong finish has Schroeder believing Methum will be in the running to win the event next year, when TMU's captain will return for his final season of eligibility while pursuing an MBA.
 
"Overall, I am just beyond thankful for the strength the Lord provided me to compete," said Methum, who is the sixth runner in program history to earn All-American honors in both cross country and track. "I'm very excited to get back to work and start prepping for next season."


 
Arianna Ghiorso also competed on the final day of the national meet, finishing 11th in the women's 1500-meter finals, just as she did two years ago at the last NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The junior crossed the finish line in a time of 4:53.72.
 
From tenth position, she worked herself up to fourth after the opening 300 meters and remained in the All-American places in eighth after 700 meters. She then found herself in 10th going into the final lap before finishing in the same place that she was seeded entering the national meet.
 
While it was a successful few days for Master's in competition, the Mustangs accomplished what they set out to – honoring the Lord through their efforts.
 
"Being able to learn how to worship the Lord through running has been such an incredible realization," said Zach Garey, who competed in the 4x800 meter relay on Wednesday. "The last thing we deserve is to be blessed with the ability to honor Him through something as awesome as running.
 
"This meet was such an encouragement to see so many believers from our team and others come together to offer up big efforts for the God Most High."