And With That, the 2023 Season is Underway
This isn’t an excuse, just a shareholders meeting between us and you all.
You may be asking yourselves, ‘where the h*** (can we say heck?) has D3 Glory Days been?’ Well, we’ve been here. We just haven’t been writing even though we should be! You see, we love covering D3 Track and Field but sometimes a break is necessary to recharge. After all, our goal is to bring you coverage of this wonderful division from now until May, while trying to do our day jobs.
We’re also rethinking how we’re going to bring you better coverage this season and coming up with new ventures to support that. By February, we’re going to have a Newsletter straight into your inbox. We’ve probably said that a couple of times now but for real for real, it’s happening.
As Sara Passani said in our last episode, it’s okay to take a step back and come back more dedicated than before. So we’re here to tell you we’re sorry for our early season absence, but we’re back and ready to get after it. Oh, and we’re announcing D3 Indoors again this season, meaning we’re planning on big things in Birmingham that weekend, so stay tuned.
We’re glad to be back. We’re here to stay. Without further ado, let’s take a dive into what’s been happening in D3 Track and Field.
It’s never to soon for a national record
Last indoor season, we saw eight national records fall over the course of the season. This year, only weeks into the 2022-23 season, we are up to four national records. With this trajectory, we could be on pace to break more records this year than last.
Here’s the breakdown of records so far:
Birgen Nelson - Women’s 60m hurdles
Coming off of her all-conditions best 100-meter hurdles performance of 13.44 at NCAAs in the spring, Gustavus Adolphus’s Birgen Nelson raced in December for the first time in almost seven months. The result? A new women’s 60m hurdles national record. Nelson ran 8.38 in the prelim at the Ice Breaker Open in Minneapolis to break the previous high hurdles of 8.44 held by Lehman’s Adriana Wright. She polished off a massive day with a new indoor 200m PR of 25.21 (just 0.02 seconds off of her all-time best 200 meter) and a 300-meter PR of 40.03, the third fastest recorded time over the women’s 300 meter event in D3 history. It’s no secret that Nelson is building the foundation for her best year yet of D3 track and field.
Last year, she took gold in the 100-meter hurdle and silver in the 400-meter hurdles to follow up her 2021 outdoor finishes of second and fifth in these events, respectively. Indoors, Nelson took seventh in the 60-meter hurdles, a performance she is sure to look to improve upon later this winter. Her biggest competition so far this season is Stevens’s Laura Mathews, whose current No. 2 mark of 8.60 is No. 12 in D3 history.
Cheick Traore - Men’s 300m
Ramapo’s Cheick Traore is back like the NCAA Outdoor Championships weren’t over seven months ago. To follow up his two outdoor national runner-up finishes, Traore opened up this indoor season at the December TCNJ Indoor Open with a new personal best of 6.76 in the 60m (No. 17 all-time) and a new D3 record of 33.64 in the indoor 300m. He owned the previous D3 record in this event with his 34.10 at this meet a year ago. His new time is almost a full half-second faster than last year. Any coach knows that when an athlete’s starting point is better than in previous year’s, more PR’s are on the way. Traore’s name already litters the NCAA D3 record books. His indoor 200m of 21.32 is No. 6 all-time, his outdoor 200m of 20.56 is No. 2 all-time, and his 46.54 in the outdoor 400 is No. 16 all-time. Look for Traore’s to be a name that rises to the top all throughout the season.
SUNY Delhi’s Josh Jeffes tried to get a good look at Traore when he ran 34.54 at Ithaca the same weekend. Though this time is No. 2 all-time, it trails Traore by almost a full second.
Grace Devanny - Women’s 500m
Many athletes move up in race distance in the early phases of the indoor season. The reasons for this move can vary–sometimes it makes the most sense coming off of a strength cycle in training, other times athletes use an event they aren’t as emotionally tied to as a “rust buster,” and in less common cases, it can be a way of testing the waters for a change in primary events. For 400m national runner-up Grace Devanny of Wesleyan, moving up to the 500 meter this weekend meant a national record.
Devanny ran a quick 1:14.17 to surpass Wheaton’s Ashante Little and her 1:14.33 on the USTFCCCA all-time lists. Last year, in her first national meet, Devanny was seventh in the indoor 200m and ninth in the indoor 400m. She went on outdoors to place eighth in the 200m and second in the 400m. Yet to run either of these events this season, we’re excited to see what times Devanny drops as the season wages on. She will have good competition in Mount Union’s Kenadee Wayt, who leads the 200m in 24.75, and Rochester’s Madeline O’Connell, who leads the 400m in 55.68.
Matt McBride - Men’s 600m
When news broke that the 600m national record fell on a 300m track, Stu sent this to the D3GD group chat:
With all the conversions for flat versus banked versus oversized tracks happening indoors combined with the USTFCCCA separate lists for records set on oversized tracks, it’s hard not to feel like Zach Galifianakis solving upper-level math equations. But when it comes to Mount Union’s Matt McBride’s 1:17.93 over 600 meters, the solution seems simple: celebrate fast times always. This time would have put McBride third in the American Track League Hawkeye Pro Classic 600m that took place in Iowa this weekend–right behind Erik Sowinski and just ahead of Atlanta Track Club’s Shane Streich. Instead, McBride ran this solo, beating the rest of the field by almost three seconds.
Last week, Loras’s Mika Jasa ran a speedy 1:18.67 on a flat 200m track, missing Amherst’s Ben Scheetz’s 1:18.60 by just 0.07 of a second. The NCAA conversion from a flat to an oversized track in the 600m is about 0.98 of a second, which has us wishing that the 600m matchup between McBride and Jasa could be a national event.
(Note: While the above records reflect all-time bests to our knowledge and due diligence, the record books for off-events seem to be more incomplete than some of the nationally contested events. We invite you to let us know if you see a record that has been left off the top of these lists.)
All-time list additions:
While the record books are being changed, the All-Time lists are getting deeper by the week. Take a look who’s entered the All-Time list.
60m:
Sam Blaskowski - 6.70 - No. 4 - UW-Lacrosse
Davian Williams - 6.72 No. 6 - UW-Oshkosh
Carson Rantanen - 6.74 - No. 13 - Greenville
CJ Anderson - 6.76 - No. 17 - Greenville
Cheick Traore - 6.76 - No. 17 - Ramapao
60mH
Laura Mathews - 8.60 - No. 12 - Stevens
300
Alijah Johnson - 35.09 - No. 11 - Eastern Mennonite
Andrew Lodge - 35.32 - No. 16 - TCNJ
Griffin Gayler - 35.38 - No. 17 - McMurry
Lance Jensen - 35.38 - No. 17 - SUNY G
500
Kieran Sheridan - 64.33 - No. 3 - SUNY Geneseo
John Goldszer - 65.09 - No. 17 - SUNY Geneseo
600:
Mike Jasa - 1:18.67 - No. 3 - Loras
Carter Oberfoell - 1:20.46 - No. 9 - Loras
Justin Knoch - 1:20.61 - No. 12 - Mount Union
Joel Smith - 1:20.64 - No. 13 - Bethel
Mile
Alex Phillip - 4:04.13 - No. 9 - John Carroll
3k:
Ethan Gregg - 8:09.94 - No. 9 - UW-LaCrosse
Ryan Kredell - 8:11.41 - No. 15 - Haverford
Travis Martin - 8:11.91 - No. 19 - Trinity
5k:
Elias Lindgren - 14:00.54 - No. 5 - Williams
Annika Urban - 16:29.14 - No. 10 - Emory
Ana Tucker - 16:29.34 - No. 11 - Hope
TJ:
Victoria Kadiri - 12.38m - No. 12 - Johns Hopkins
SP:
Joe White - 18.31m - No. 13 - Carthage
WT:
Joe White - 20.77m - No. 5 - Carthage
Pent:
Grace Alley - 3659 points - No. 13 - Loras
Current NCAA leaders
Here are your current NCAA leaders in each event as of January 21st, 2023. Some names look familiar, while others are making their ways into the national spotlight. Hopkins’s Kadiri is back in full force with two leads in both horizontal jumping events. Kadiri’s mark of 12.38 meters in the triple jump is No. 12 all-time. Williams’s Jackson Anderson currently holds the national lead in both the 60-meter hurdles and the heptathlon. Carthage’s Joseph White leads the way in both throwing events, his 18.38 shot put is No. 13 all-time, while his 20.77 in the weight throw is No. 5 all-time.
On the women’s side, both Ramapo’s Gbarper Dwah and Otterbein’s Peyton Proffitt are first-years in indoor track and field, making their current national leads even more impressive. Oberlin’s Iyanna Lewis, who currently leads the weight throw, has never qualified to a D3 NCAA meet before.
*Denotes converted flat track times
Last Mark In aka 20th
Weekend in review
For some, this weekend demonstrated fitness that has been well-maintained since early December meets, for others, this weekend was another notch in the belt of the 2023 indoor season, and for others still, this weekend was the first race since the outdoor season ended last spring. Here were some of the biggest performances of the weekend.
SPIRE Midwest Open
Teams from all over traveled to SPIRE, the site of the 2022 outdoor championships, to race on an oversized indoor track this past weekend. The results were fruitful, producing several national leads and one national record.
Mount Union’s Wayt had a massive weekend at SPIRE, a load she knows all too well after running eight events at the indoor national championship and five events at the outdoor national championship last year. Wayt ran a current No. 5 7.70 in the 60m dash, national leading 24.75 in the 200m, No. 4 all-time 1:33.45 in the 600m dash, and a 4x400m relay. If number of races run at NCAAs was a national event, Wayt would surely be in the running for gold.
John Carroll’s Garrett Clark ran a current No. 4 48.21 in the 400m dash to put him just ahead of Mount Union’s McBride, who broke the 600m national record at SPIRE this weekend. Clark’s JCU teammate and multi-time national champion Alex Phillip opened his track season with a 4:04 mile, the current national lead and No. 9 in D3 history. Look for Phillip to continue to add his name to the history books this year as he chases national bests in both the 3k and 5k. His 8:07.92 3k and 13:58.42 5k from last year currently sit No. 4 and No. 3 all-time, respectively.
Carnegie Mellon’s Elizabeth Barre and Mount Union’s Kennady Gibbins faced off in the high jump, clearing 1.71 meters and 1.68 meters, respectively. Barre is currently No. 2 in the nation behind Tufts’s Jaidyn Appel, while Gibbins is No. 5.
Pat Healy Classic
UW-La Crosse debuted their new fieldhouse this past weekend with the Pat Healy Classic, setting some gnarly new facility records. Three La Crosse athletes finished the weekend with national leads in their respective events.
The first was sprint standout Sam Blaskowski. The 100m national champion ran 6.70 over 60 meters to tie his 2022 No. 4 fastest time in D3 history. The difference between these two marks? The one from 2022 wasn’t until February. Feasibly, Blaskowski is already a month ahead with this year’s fitness compared to last year’s, meaning some fast times are certainly ahead.
Distance duo Ethan Gregg and Isaac Wegner set 1-2 national leads in the men’s 3k, running 8:09.94 and 8:15.03, respectively. The banked conversions of 8:04 and 8:09 have them multiple seconds ahead of No. 3 Ryan Kredell of Haverford’s 8:11.41.
UWL’s Maddie Hannan opted to go to the Blue Demon Alumni Classic at Gately Complex in Chicago, coming away with a second place finish to Northwestern’s Rachel McCardell. Her time of 4:55.78 is the current national lead in the women’s mile just ahead of St. Olaf’s Christine Albrecht’s converted 4:55.83.
Other top UWL performances at Pat Healy included Ainsley Hansen’s No. 4 1.69-meter clearance in women’s high jump, Miah Keller’s No. 3 11.95-meter mark in women’s triple jump, and Skye Digman’s duo No. 3 shot put toss of 14.13 meters and No. 7 weight throw of 17.45 meters.
Leaderboard changes
Several other events saw leaderboard changes this weekend, including both men’s and women’s DMRs, which now see national leads from Johns Hopkins. Hopkins traveled to the Staten Island Ocean Breeze Complex for the NYC Gotham cup. The men’s team loaded up and ran NCAA XC qualifier Arthur Beyer and XC All-American Gavin McElhennon, who helped their team to a 10:10.53 national lead. The women’s team impressively ran four athletes who did not run at the XC national meet for Hopkins and still obtained the national lead with their performance of 12:28.77. We’ve said it before and we will probably keep saying it: the depth of Johns Hopkins’s distance women is unparalleled.
Men’s shot put saw a jaw-dropping toss from Carthage’s Joseph White, who tossed an 18.31-meter bomb at the Snow Day Invitational at North Central. His previous year’s best in the indoor shot put was a respectable 17.11 meters, a distance he has surpassed multiple times already this year. His series bests of 17.20 meters, 17.51 meters, and now 18.31 meters have led the nation all season long. His 18.31-meter mark is the 13th farthest throw in D3 history. If we were betting on someone to be a lock for national champion later this season… it might have to be White.
Other names rising to the top of the men’s shot put list after this weekend include Eau Claire’s Yakob Ekoue, who threw 17.36 meters at Platteville (current No. 2), and Ohio Northern’s Keegan Digby, who threw 16.26 meters at home (current No. 4). All three athletes were All-Americans in the shot put last spring. White was the 2022 outdoor national champion.
Catching our Eye
A name to keep an eye for this season is freshman Landen Liu from Bethel (Minn.). He’s run 6.80 in his second college 60m dash. He’s currently sixth in the country and gets daily training advice from Olympic Gold Medalist, Andrew Rock.
After finishing 156th at XC Nationals, Robert Morris transfer Carmen Medvit (Geneva) is having a breakout early season. She’s posted 5:01/10:05 mile/3k after coming into the season with 10:41/18:51 3k/5k PRs.
Cal Yackin with nice early season 4:09/8:18 mile/3k double.
With Kassie Parker out of indoor eligibility, the distance fields become wide open. Currently, four different women lead each of the distance events and the depth in 3k is already starting to build. Nine women have run unconverted times of 10:00 or faster. Last year had 25 women under the 10 minute barrier and with over a month left to go, don't be surprised if that feat is surpassed.
Additionally, seven men are already under 4:10 in the mile. 14 did it last season.
UChicago have 8 women under 10:11 in the 3k. #depth
Ethan Gregg threw down an 8:09 3k on a flat track. Looks like he had pacer early on to help but that’s moving for a flat track.
Final reminder for conversions this season: