Corey Reid transferring to University of South Dakota

It’s been one heck of a summer for Carson High graduate Corey Reid.

He has spent most of it fighting wildfires in California and Nevada, and oh yeah, he managed to squeeze in a couple of college visits.

Reid, who made the NCAA Division II championships the past two years in the decathlon at Azusa Pacific, is transferring to the University of South Dakota.

Reid said he won’t have to sit out a year because Azusa Pacific released him from his scholarship.

Reid made the decision to leave APU after his uncle and coach, Kevin Reid, left APU to take the head track and field job at Laverne, a small college in Southern California.

“He (Kevin Reid) decided to leave right before he went to USA Nationals,” said Corey Reid. “He talked to a bunch of coaches there about me, and I started getting phone calls. He didn’t want me to go to his new school. He said I could get a better thing somewhere else.

“I talked to about five schools. I only had a few weeks to pick. I narrowed it down to two, Arkansas and University of South Dakota. I went to see Arkansas last week. I think South Dakota was a better fit for me overall. Arkansas has a better track program.”

Arkansas has about 30,000 students compared to 10,000 at South Dakota. For a small-town guy like Reid, that made the decision pretty good.

“South Dakota had more of a small-town feel,” Reid said. “It has a good track program, and it’s a Division I school so there are extra perks. I didn’t have much time to choose. I have to be at school by the 17th (of August). It’s not as big of a change.

“It was a tough decision. Arkansas is probably going to win the national championship, and it would have been cool to be a part of that.”

Reid said he is being considered a multi-event guy — for now. He seemed to think there might be an opportunity to pole vault on an individual basis.

Reid has improved in the pole vault the last several years, and last year cleared 16-feet 1-inch.