Carmany legs out a career

NEW MIDDLETOWN — If it weren’t for the fact that Joe Carmany needed an extra physical education course in his junior year at Malone College, the Springfield High graduate never would have become a college athlete.

And if the instructor of the walking for health course also just didn’t happen to be the race-walking coach for the Pioneers’ track team, Carmany never would have become a member of the squad as a race walker and eventually qualify for three NAIA national meets.

“Actually, it was kind of a coincidence,” recalled Carmany about what proved to be the beginning of his race-walking career that culminated recently with his eighth-place showing in the NAIA outdoor national meet as a senior.

“I needed one more phys. ed. credit at Malone. I took it in the fall of my junior year. It was called walking for health and the instructor happened to be the race-walking coach [Jon Johnson]. It wasn’t a race-walking course, but it showed us how to do it and it led me to the team.”

Carmany, who graduated from Malone this spring, said that Johnson, an assistant coach under Charlie Grimes who has coached several All-American race walkers, noticed Carmany’s potential as a walker and encouraged him to consider joining Malone’s track team.

Coach is vindicated
by Carmany’s showing

“He thought I had potential and that I could go to nationals, and so then I started to do it,” said Carmany, who is glad that Johnson’s judge of talent has been vindicated by Carmany’s strong two-year showing on the track team.

“It was a running joke [at Malone] that the professors told him that he was trying to recruit race walkers out of his health class, and with me coming out of his health class, that makes him look good as a good evaluator of talent. I’m thankful for his coaching the last couple of years.”

Thanks to Carmany’s talent and Johnson’s coaching, Carmany placed eighth in the 5,000-meter (3-mile) walk at the 2007 NAIA outdoor championships in a time of 26 minutes, 42.09 seconds, helping Malone to a 12th-place tie among 65 teams.

“It was my best time at the national but my worst time this season,” said Carmany.

“My best time this season was at Allegheny in early May with 23:25, and that also is my personal-best ever and an Allegheny track record.”

His first appearance in the NAIA outdoor national meet was as a junior in his first year in the sport.

“I just started race-walking my junior year in college and placed 10th in 28:41,” he pointed out.

He also qualified for the NAIA indoor national meet and placed 11th over the 3,000-meter indoor distance in 15:32.

Near-perfect 3.96 GPA
is his top achievement

But Carmany’s most impressive achievement at Malone was in the classroom where he compiled an almost-perfect 3.96 grade-point average as a major in sports ministry.

“I had a ‘B’ my freshman year in my first semester and an ‘A-minus’ this semester,” said Carmany, the son of Jim and Wanda Carmany who ran four years of cross country for Springfield but bypassed that sport at Malone.

Joe has an older brother, Paul, who ran both track and cross country at Springfield before graduating in 2000.

Paul went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Ashland University in 2004 and 2006, and now is employed at Liberty University in its athletic media relations department.

So, is Carmany’s short race-walking career over?

“I think I can compete,” said Carmany, who hopes to continue race walking in different competitions.

XJohn Kovach covers college athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.