Monroe’s Kandice Clyde signs with Paine College

ALBANY — When Monroe’s Kandice Clyde received a scholarship offer from Paine College, she did the only thing she knew to do.

“Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever get a scholarship,” Clyde said. “It shocked me when I was offered a scholarship. When they offered it to me, I just took it and ran with it.”

Surrounded by her family, coaches and teammates, Clyde signed a letter-of-intent to run at Paine College Tuesday morning.

Clyde, who runs the 400 meters, 200 meters, 100 meters and is part of the Lady Tornadoes’ 4×100 and 4×400-meter relay teams, has been a standout at Monroe since she was a freshman.

“She is one of the cornerstones of our program,” Monroe coach Billy Glanton said. “She has worked hard for us since she has been here as a freshman and she will continue to work hard as we close out these next couple weeks. She has meant a lot and has helped a lot of younger girls grow up as well.”

In addition to Paine, Clyde also had interest from Savannah State but picked Paine because of the intimacy of the school.

“I like that it is smaller,” she said. “I don’t need to be at a bigger school with everyone distracting me. They also have a great athletic program.”

The Lions track & field team is currently led by interim coach Mike Hamer.

Clyde said the coaches at Paine were very attentive to her and talked to after almost every day.

“Whenever I had a track meet, the coach would check to see how I did,” Clyde said. “He would check to see if I did good or if I broke a personal record.”

Glanton said Clyde’s commitment to track & field will make her successful at the next level.

“She will have to continue to work hard and stay dedicated to her craft,” he said. “We have preached that since day one and she has worked hard. This is a result of her hard work.”