Trophy case filling up

Two more NCAA titles for thrower Joseph White ’24

After winning a national championship in his sophomore year, long-throwing track and field standout Joseph White ’24 tacked on two more as a junior.

Capping a dominant indoor season, Joseph won both the weight throw and shot put at the NCAA Division III championships in Birmingham, Alabama, this past March. That made him an easy choice as National Field Athlete of the Year.

Add those to his 2022 outdoor victory in the shot put, and Joseph’s three national event titles trail only Shea’na Grigsby ’06 (eight) among Carthage individuals all-time.

Joseph’s winning efforts measured 21.41 meters in the weight throw and 18.47 meters in the shot put. As a team, the Firebirds finished eighth in Birmingham, tying their best result ever at the indoor championships.

Then in May, Joseph concluded the 2023 season by making the All-America team in two events at the NCAA outdoor meet in Rochester, New York. He placed fourth in the weight throw and eighth in the discus.

Majoring in nursing, Joseph balanced the competition schedule with clinical rotations.

“To make the physical and mental growth that he has in such a short time frame is truly incredible and shouldn’t be understated,” said Firebirds head coach Josh Henry. “That is what makes him a special person who is accomplishing truly amazing things right now.”

Word has been spreading for a while that the Firebirds are going places, which attracted an enthusiastic new driver who’s ready to lean on the accelerator.

After building a strong resume in similar settings, Ryan Kane took over as Carthage’s director of athletics in April. He’s been involved in NCAA Division III sports for more than 25 years as a student-athlete, coach, and senior administrator.

“I wanted to be part of the new chapter here,” he says. “There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity for Carthage Athletics to take the next step. We’re not interested in the status quo.”

The program’s results have been stellar. Since 2020, the Firebirds have won five national championships (two team and three individual) while adding four competitive sports (for a total of 28). Rather than the peak, Mr. Kane sees this as just the beginning of an upward trend.

The pieces are largely in place. On the whole, Mr. Kane says Carthage’s athletic facilities can match any in the region. The staff is strong. And he considers the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin an elite league at this level.

All that’s left is to infuse those high expectations throughout everything the Athletic Department does. In the first few coaching hires he’s made at Carthage, Mr. Kane sought out “relationship-