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A native of Atlanta, Texas, Jerry Chandler burst onto the track and field scene in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference earning all-conference outdoor honors as a member of SAU's speedy 4x400 relay team during his true freshman season of 1986. Chandler joined teammates Reggie Mitchell, Al Hagen and Roderick Henderson as the group's second leg and the foursome ran to a winning time of 3:12.95. The unit qualified for the national outdoor championship just months after racing to a fourth-place finish in the event at the national indoor championship.
Chandler's career was defined by speed. The Texan notched several notable results that still resonate around the program today. In addition to his All-AIC 4x400 first team result, Chandler earned All-AIC second team honors in 1987 after earning a fifth-place finish in that year's 400m event at the conference championships.
As a senior co-captain of Dan Veach's Muleriders in 1989, Chandler won the 300m event at the unofficial AIC Indoor Championship in Searcy. A couple of weeks later, he swept the 200 meter (21.1) and 400 meter (47.2) events at SAU's home-opening outdoor meet and in the process beat Central Arkansas' Kenneth Davis, the future 400m national champion, in the latter competition. He bested a heavy Division I field at the Stephen F. Austin Relays as a senior and in the '89 AIC Championship prelims, Chandler posted a 46.5 in the 400m; a result only topped by fellow SAU Sports Hall of Famer Sammy Epps.
Chandler qualified for the NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championship, his first as an individual, and earned a seventh-place finish in the 400m.
Following his career on the track, Chandler served as a student assistant coach for Veach during the 1990 season.
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