A BU Weekend
Just as the 49ers’ failed punt return in the third quarter changed the tide for Super Bowl LVIII, so did BU Valentine weekend shift the momentum in the D3 track and field world as we get closer to the 2024 indoor postseason. In total, 17 top-10 all-time marks hit the history books this past weekend, meaning the matchups in March will not only be close, but will be some of the most competitive in D3 history.
While top results poured in from across the country, the highest number of notable performances came out of the BU Track & Tennis Center in Boston at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, the marquee event of the weekend. Here’s what happened in D3 track & field this weekend.
Women
Seventeen top-10 all-time performances happened this weekend, meaning the D3 history books are quickly being rewritten. Some of the most impressive results came from the women’s 3k and the men’s 400-meter dash.
The women kicked off the action at BU on Friday, posting big results in the mile and the 3k. After adding her name to the top ten on the national leaderboard in the 3k and the 5k already this season, WPI’s Grace Hadley dropped down to the mile and delivered. Her time of 4:46.48 is the 11th fastest time in D3 history and a new national-lead ahead of two other women seeded under 4:50 already, making the women’s mile this year one of the deepest in recent years.
An even deeper event however is that of the women’s 3k, which saw six women under 9:35 and three women under 9:30 this weekend. NYU’s Grace Richardson led the way at BU, taking second in heat five in 9:27.12, the seventh fastest time in D3 history. Richardson ran a brilliantly-paced race in which she ran steady 38-second laps (9:30 pace) until the final 400 meters when she dropped down to 36 and then 33 for her closing lap. Two heats later, cross runner-up Natalie Bitetti of CMS ran a similar race, dropping from 39-second laps to 37-second laps in the second half to dip under 9:30 at the finish. Her time of 9:29.76 is the tenth fastest time in D3 history. Also adding her name to the history books from BU was that of Central College’s Megan Johnson, who ran 9:32.08, the 15th fastest time in D3 history. She joins teammate Caroline McMartin in the top ten on the current national leaderboard.
The leader of the weekend in the women’s 3k, however, was not found on the magic red track out east, but on an oversized track in a region more familiar to her: the great Midwest. XC national champion Fiona Smith of Saint Benedict did what she does best at the South Dakota State Indoor Classic, that is, taking a race into her own hands and absolutely dominating. Smith soloed a fantastic 9:23.40 in the 10-lap event on the oversized track. Her time is the third fastest in D3 history.
Also chiming in from a non-BU track was that of Saint Lawrence’s Alison Sibold, who won the Fastrack National Invite at Ocean Breeze ahead of several D1 runners from Columbia. Her time of 9:30.76 comes in at No. 12 on the all-time list. Wartburg’s Aubrie Fisher was the sixth woman to run under 9:35 this weekend, running 9:34.98 at BU. With so many women packed together under 9:35, this year could require the fastest times in history to be an All-American in the women’s 3k.
The women’s events saw even more performances enter the history books this weekend from a spread of locations. These women know that they don’t necessarily need a trip to Boston to post top marks. While the track is historically fast, a trip to Valentine also comes with expensive travel, crowded heats, last-minute seeding, long lines to the bathroom, and lots of chaos. Sometimes the best environment for performing well is closer to home. Such was the case for WashU’s Emma Kelly and UChicago’s Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, who stayed in the Midwest to post top times in history.
Kelley went to Chicago to hop into a hot single heat of the 800 with a pacer and a quality spread of D1 runners. She finished an impressive third place in 2:06.34, which moves her to third all-time behind Esther Seeland and Emily Richards, both of whom dipped under 2:06 indoors. Kelley now has three performances of 2:06 on the all-time list and just needs over one second to hit the national record. Oftentimes consistency can indicate breakthrough is coming, so look for this national record to potentially fall in the coming weeks.
Battleson-Gunkel went up to the oversized track at GVSU for a hot 5k, running 16:27.68, the eighth fastest time in D3 history. She placed third overall amidst several big-school talent, losing only to GVSU’s Lauren Kiley and former Johns Hopkins athlete Ashley Heidenrich. Battleson-Gunkel jumped over cross runner-up Bitetti on the descending order list and now sits at No. 2 in the nation behind Smith. She took third at XC nationals in the fall, so a rematch with Bitetti is sure to entertain.
And while BU is known for its fast bank, this attribute really only benefits those who run curves in their event, not those in the 60-meter dash and hurdles or those who don’t run on the track at all. The women’s 60-meter dash started to heat up at the Midwest ELITE Invitational as well as the D3 Pre-Nationals Invitational, where Lauren Jarrett of UWL and Kamiyah Wooten of North Carolina Wesleyan added their names to the D3 all-time list. Jarrett blasted a win against Whitewater’s Tina Shelton, winning in 7.49, the third fastest time in D3 history. Shelton finished second in 7.58, just three-hundredths of a second off her personal best time of 7.55, tying the time that the rookie Wooten posted from Virginia Beach, cementing her name in the history books as 19th all time.
Wooten had herself a weekend, doubling back to also win the 200 in 24.19, the third fastest time in D3 history, and to take runner-up in the 400, the eighth fastest time in D3 so far this season. The rookie will certainly be one to watch come March when she returns to the track in Virginia Beach.
Notable field performances from this weekend came from the Midwest ELITE Invitational where Whitewater standout Gracie Holland and WashU’s Yasmin Ruff dualed it out in the pole vault to both clear heights over four meters. Holland’s finishing height of 4.08 meters comes in as the 11th highest bar in D3 history. At the Windy City Rumble, U Chicago’s Molly Laumakis dropped a bomb in the shot put of 14.99, just one centimeter shy of the 15-meter barrier and the 20th farthest toss in D3 history. With this mark, Laumakis passed MIT’s Alexis Boykin, who took fourth in this event last year. The most exciting part about this jump? Laumakis has never finished as an All-American in any event, meaning the women’s shot put is elevating its competition headed into postseason.
Men
The men kicked off action at BU Friday night in the men’s relays when Lynchburg, Mount Union, and John Carroll all lined up for some speedy DMRs. The result? Two top-10 all-time marks with Lynchburg coming out victorious for D3 schools. Their time of 9:44.44 is the fifth fastest time in D3 history, trailing the national record set by Loras last year by five seconds. Mount Union’s time of 9:46.31 jumped to No. 7 all-time, inspiring small D3s everywhere, while John Carroll’s time of 9:48.97 lands just behind No. 11 all-time Pomona Pitzer and seven seconds off of their 2023 squad’s No. 2 all-time mark. Some of the most impressive splits from this race were JCU’s Basheer Alramahi’s 47.00 in the 400-meter leg and Lynchburg’s Sam Llaneza’s 1:49.9 in the 800-meter leg.
The momentum carried into Saturday when Plymouth State’s Michael Olson lined up in the men’s 800-meter run. Olson was the outstanding D3 performer of the meet in this event, posting a new national-leading time of 1:49.51, the eighth fastest indoor 800-meter time in D3 history. Olson has managed to fly mostly under the radar so far this season, opening up his season in the 800 with 1:56. The next weekend, he shaved off a few seconds to run 1:54, then posted 1:51 at BU last weekend at the Scarlet Invite. This weekend’s time of 1:49 is a new lifetime PR for Olson, who has run 1:50 outdoors, and cements him as someone to watch out for at nationals.
Division 3 continued to dominate in the men’s 400-meter dash at BU, one of the most competitive races of the weekend with four out of the five top finishing spots claimed by athletes sporting a D3 jersey. The action kicked off right away in heat one with a matchup between outdoor runner-up Matt McBride of Mount Union and indoor runner-up Amara Conte of Rowan. McBride came out victorious after following Columbia’s Devon Davey through the break in 22 low and closing hard to finish first in 47.27, the ninth fastest time in D3 history. Conte finished fourth in a sub-48 time of 47.80. Geneseo’s Lance Jensen carried the D3 momentum in heat 3 by winning in 47.51 to finish just behind Jeffes and Davey and as the 13th fastest time in D3 history.
The action really heated up, however, when SUNY Delhi’s Josh Jeffes and John Carroll’s Alramahi climbed into their blocks in heat four. Alramahi blasted the first 200, crossing in 22.09, the fastest opening lap of anyone at BU on Saturday, to pull the field into their final lap. This is when Jeffes stepped up to take the lead and ultimately win in a national-leading time of 47.05, the third fastest time in D3 history. Only UWL’s Andrew Rock and Ramapo’s Cheick Traore have ever run under 47 seconds indoors and Jeffes has now marked himself the closest man in the D3 history books to these two legends. As for Alramahi, his finishing time of 47.18 puts him No. 7 all-time in D3 history. The pair surpassed the previous faster-seeded heats in the results to finish 1-2 overall.
Simpson’s Max Cleveland followed up the 400 with a runner-up finish in the invitational section of the 60-meter hurdles, posting a No. 11 all-time mark of 7.95. He now sits in second on the national leaderboard, trailing only UWL’s Luke Schroeder, who ran 7.80 just last weekend.
Speed carried on into the 4x400-meter relay, where John Carroll and Rowan went head-to-head with Mount Union in heat one. John Caroll’s Tyler Gast got the Streaks off to a strong start with a 48.57, a split that put them in first headed into the first exchange. That’s when Garrett Clark pulled away from the field, handing off to leg three after a blazing 46.8 split, putting JCU in the lead by a full two seconds at the halfway point. Caleb Correia held off the lead just before getting the stick to Alramahi in what would be his third and fastest 400 of the weekend. Alramahi split 46.73 to cross the finish line in a total time of 3:10.93, the second fastest time run by a 4x4 relay team in D3 history. They missed Rowan’s national record set last winter by under a second. Rowan crossed in second, running 3:12.58, and Mount Union in fourth in 3:13.63 for sixth overall. A nationals rematch between these three teams along with UWL, Bethel, and SUNY Geneseo, who took ninth overall, will be one you won’t want to miss.
As the night rolled along, the distance athletes stepped onto the same track that their fast-twitched compatriots heated up just hours prior. In the penultimate event of the night, RPI’s Cory Kennedy led the way for D3 in the men’s 3k. His finishing time of 8:04.77 jumps to No. 2 in the nation behind UWL’s Ethan Gregg and No. 8 all-time in D3 history. Just one second behind him was Williams’s Nate Lentz, whose time of 8:05.80 jumps to tenth all-time. Lynchburg’s Chasen Hunt doubled back from a hard mile in the Friday DMR to run 8:06.64, 12th all-time in history, and Carnegie Mellon’s Colin McLaughlin’s 8:10.30 squeezed onto the all-time list at No. 24.
There are now 17 seed times of 8:10 or faster in the men’s 3k, indicating it could take under 8:10 just to qualify for nationals. With McLaughlin’s 8:10.30 at 24th, this also means one might have to make the all-time list to guarantee their spot at Virginia Beach. Such depth in a single event is bonkers.
Last on the track at BU Saturday night was the men’s 5k, which saw a new addition to the sub-14 club in Simpson’s Spencer Moon. Moon ran 13:59.20, the seventh fastest time in D3 history, which also makes him the seventh man in D3 history to break 14 minutes in the indoor 5k. He joins an elite list alongside Alex Phillip, Christian Patzka, Ethan Gregg, Dan Mayer, Ian LaMere, and Sam Acquaviva.
Patzka posted his third indoor 5k under 14 in an earlier heat, running 13:51.93 to jump to the national lead. Whitewater’s Gunner Schlender and Williams’s John Lucey also joined the all-time ranks, their 14:04.34 and 14:09.63 good for No. 15 and No 19 all-time, respectively. Half the country away at the GVSU big meet, Manchester’s Enrique Salazar sent a Friday-night message of warning east when he dropped a 14:01.63 on the big track to win by 14 seconds in a race with many big-school athletes. His time puts him on the all-time list as No. 13.
Leaderboard Changes
The all-time lists aren’t the only lists receiving a makeover this weekend either. Here’s who jumped to new leads in their respective events this weekend.
