National champion Kenadee Wayt sprints to the finish of her great Mount Union track career

ALLIANCE — Kevin Lucas' initial gut feeling five years ago wasn't too positive.

The Mount Union track and field head coach still remembers the day he hosted the daughter of a Purple Raiders great on a recruiting visit. As the visit wore on, he wondered if landing Kenadee Wayt was even possible.

"She was a really quiet student," Lucas said. "On her tour I was like, 'Man, she doesn't like this at all. She doesn't like Mount Union. She doesn't want to be here.'"

Wayt's silence was no reflection on Lucas or the university she was visiting. She eventually chose Mount Union to continue her athletic career.

Her performance on the track speaks loud and clear.

Wayt will wrap up one of the greatest Mount Union athletic careers ever in the coming weeks. The sprinter is a five-time national champion and an 18-time All-American. She was voted Division III women's indoor and outdoor track athlete of the year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. She is also the first Mount Union female athlete to appear in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd section.

All the bullet points on Wayt's stellar Mount Union résumé would make any runner proud. In Wayt's case, she looks beyond the championships, the awards and the glory.

"Obviously all the accolades are really rewarding for me, but the improvement of my times and hitting these big marks is something I'm the most proud of," Wayt said. "I was able to be consistent. I didn't just have one really good season. I've had a couple of pretty decent seasons."

Wayt's family ties to Mount Union stretch back a few decades. Her mother, Heather O'Shea-Wayt, won two outdoor national championships in the 800 meters for the Purple Raiders. She also helped Mount Union's 1,600 relay win an outdoor national title in 1994.

It took Kenadee awhile to fully understand what her mom accomplished at Mount Union.

"When I was in high school, I started to realize that mom was actually pretty good," Wayt said.

Wayt grew up in Wheeling and became one of West Virginia's top high school sprinters. She also played soccer at Wheeling Central Catholic and scored a school-record 111 career goals.

Track became Wayt's sport of choice in college. At first she had second thoughts about following in her mom's footsteps at Mount Union.

"I was kind of drifting away," Wayt said. "I thought 'I don't want to go to the same school as my mom. I want to do something different.'"

Wayt's high school track coach, Eric Belanic, encouraged Wayt to visit Mount Union. He was a two-time All-American high jumper for the Purple Raiders in the 2000s.

"When I actually came up here and visited, I was like 'Wow, I really like it here. I can see myself here,'" Wayt said.

Wayt has two indoor national championships in the 200, an outdoor national title in the 200 and indoor and outdoor national titles in the 400. The five national titles tie her with AJ Digby for the third most in Mount Union track and field history. Her 18 All-American finishes tie her with Shawn Watson for the most in program history.

In Lucas' eyes, Wayt's success is a result of her disciplined training.

"The thing about training is being consistent," Lucas said. "I think that's the thing people miss. They think they need to work hard for two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. It's not necessarily stringing together a couple of weeks of good training. It's about consistently doing it all year and doing all the little things, getting enough sleep, taking care of your body and eating right.

"That's what she does. I think that's something that separates her from a lot of athletes I've coached over the years. She does everything right."

Heather O'Shea-Wayt saw evidence of her daughter's dedication before she won championships at Mount Union.

"When she started (at Mount Union) around COVID, she was home a lot," O'Shea-Wayt said. "She wanted to work out, and I said let's go to the gym. We went pretty much every day in the summer. They gave her a training program, and she never missed. She did everything on it."

Off the track, Wayt's dedication to academics helped her become a two-time NCAA Elite 90 award winner. She completed her undergraduate degree in biology with a 4.0 GPA. She is currently in graduate school completing a degree in physician assistant studies.

"I was able to do really well as an undergrad and balance it pretty well," Wayt said. "Starting PA school, it was a lot at first. I struggled with it a little bit, but luckily I figured it out.

"I'm in class 8 to 3 every day. After class I get right to practice and am there for two hours. Then all evening I'm studying until I pretty much go to bed."

Wayt's recent indoor season saw her win national titles in the 200 and 400 and finish runner-up in the 60. Her 200 time of 24.10 seconds was the second fastest all-time in Division III history. It also was her second straight 200 title indoors.

"It's one thing to win, but I know defending is really hard," Wayt said. "Mentally it's really hard. Everyone's probably thinking I'm the one to beat in this event. Being able to come back and win that one was really rewarding."

Wayt became just the second Purple Raider women's runner to defend her national title in an event. The other one was her mom.

"To watch her do it is just so surreal," Heather O'Shea-Wayt said. "It's pretty special. Every athlete doesn't get that opportunity."

Wayt holds the Mount Union outdoor records in the 200 (23.95) and 400 (54.18). She hopes to break the 100 record, but likely won't run that race at nationals.

Repeating in the 200 and 400 outdoors would be rewarding for her. One of her biggest goals is to help Mount Union's 1,600 relay team win a national title. The team finished third last season.

"I really want to win that race," Wayt said. "Individual titles are obviously great and I love it. The guys win the 4-by-4 so much, it makes me want that for our 4-by-4, too.

"It will be my last race ever. Hopefully that ends on a winner."

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Kenadee Wayt joins her mom as one of Mount Union's elite runners