Grace College’s Isaac Stuckey will come into the NCCAA Track & Field Championships as one of the favorites in the hammer throw. (Photo provided by the Grace College Sports Information Department)

WINONA LAKE – Less than a week away from the biggest track event ever to come to campus, Grace College’s Miller Athletic Complex is eerily quiet. It won’t be that way for long.

Grace will host the 2018 NCCAA Track & Field National Championships this weekend, supporting over 500 men and women vying for track immortality in its own unique ways. But for the handful of athletes left on campus as finals week wraps up, this is the calm before the storm.

One of those who hopes to make a ton of noise this week is Grace junior Isaac Stuckey, who is in the hunt for a national title in the hammer throw. Spending nearly all of his time in the far corner of the athletic complex, Stuckey and his throwing mates are about as far removed from the noise as possible. The scraping of shoe soles in the thrower’s ring, an occasional grunt and the consequent thud of metal to ground only intermittently is interrupted by idle chatter and encouragement.

For the well-built yet softly spoken Stuckey, it’s the preferred atmosphere heading into the busy weekend.

“I love how laid back how practices are and having some of the guys out here, but I do like how quiet it can be sometimes,” Stuckey said. “Getting into meets is a lot different. I’m not used to all the attention being on me in the ring, I’m used to having teammates around to spread the attention out. It makes me a little more jittery.”

Hammer throw is one of the unique events to college track, which less than half the states have it as an official field event. Picking it up isn’t easy – literally weighing in at 16 pounds, or figuratively – and Stuckey had to do that and more upon his arrival on campus. Having been a basketball star at Frankton High School north of Anderson, Stuckey wasn’t planning on a track future. But through a connection to Grace College athletic director Chad Briscoe and Stuckey’s parents, Isaac made his way to Jeff Raymond’s track program as a thrower. With absolutely no track experience whatsoever.

“I was always planning on coming to Grace before I decided to be on the track team,” said Stuckey, who was on the 2015 Frankton state runner-up basketball team. “Coach Briscoe asked me about being on the track team given I had success in high school sports. I didn’t want to be on the team at all, but it gave me a little extra scholarship money as a walk-on so I did it anyways. I picked it up pretty quick and started liking it and that transitioned into me wanting to get better everyday.”

Stuckey is currently ranked second in the NCCAA in the hammer, fourth in the NAIA through the Crossroads League Championships. Stuckey, however, will have some work to do if he wants to earn a national title, with the top seed in the hammer coming to campus in an all-too-familiar role. Erik Escobedo of Bethel College is the top-rated thrower in the country, currently sitting on the top throw of 66.94 meters, or 219’62”. Escobedo was the Crossroads League champion last weekend, while Stuckey’s personal best is 58.91 meters (193’3.25″) but was a full six meters short of that mark at the Crossroads.

“Honestly, I’m just trying to do my best every time out and working on my personal records,” Stuckey said. “I can’t worry about what (Escobedo) or anyone else is doing. I’m already nervous enough.”

Raymond feels the top shots for his Grace competitors at NCCAA glory will come from his distance crews and throwers.

In distance, Sam Hall could have a really big day as part of the Lancer 4×800 and 4×400 relays. The junior, who is graduating early, is set to anchor both relays which were top-fours at the Crossroads League Championships last weekend. Among the 4×800 relay team is Fairfield High School graduate Brady Willard.

“I like to see our relays do well,” Raymond said. “It takes four people to work together rather than just one individual. Our 4-by-8 should do well, they had a great weekend at the Crossroads.”

Raymond noted Suzanne Sickafoose, a freshman from Whitko, could score points in the 400-meter dash, and pending her health, Jessica Svers could impact the 5,000 meters. Svers, who set a personal mark earlier this season, is dealing with injuries that could keep her out of competition.

In the field, two javelin throwers could find themselves in the conversation. Sophomore Tommy Hickerson is the number one seed coming in, achieving a 50.91-meter launch two weeks ago at the Lancer Invite. Hickerson, from Warsaw, threw 45.41 meters at the Crossroads. On the other side, Emily Anderson will ride her second-place Crossroads effort in javelin at 33.06 meters into the NCCAAs. The freshman from Oregon came to Grace with javelin experience in high school, and has a good chance to place this week.

Pole vaulter Isaiah Zeller tied for seventh at the Crossroads, but holds the Grace indoor pole vault record (14-2.5).

“Overall, I want our people to feel the pride and ownership from outside the conference,” Raymond said of Grace hosting its first NCCAA event, only the third-ever meet held at Grace with the complex opening in 2016. “I want people to see us put on a good meet and do a first-rate job. We’ve put in a lot of effort to make this as good as we can be as hosts. We want to be legitimate as hosts.”

The NCCAA Track & Field National Championships will begin Thursday morning and continue into Friday at the Bernard and Linnie Key Track & Field Complex.