D3 Bringing the Heat
200m national record falls again
Just two weeks after Centre’s JP Vaught ran 20.66 to break Sean Bernstein’s 10-year-old D3 record in the men’s 200m dash, Gallaudet’s Eric Gregory dropped a 20.62 to win his conference meet by a second and a half and set a new D3 national record. With this time, Gregory, a deaf athlete, not only rises to the top of D3 but also the world, as 20.62 is a new world record in the men’s 200m for deaf athletes.
Outside of the records, Sam Blaskowski and Cheick Traore join the sub 21.00 performances making for a deep 200m field. Blaskowski ran 20.80 (+2.4 m/s) and Traore ran 20.96 (+1.2 m/s) which gives the field four men under 21.00 seconds. Before this season, only 16 men have gone under 21.00 in all conditions.
Fast 100s at WIACs
UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski led the WIAC field to some blistering fast times in the men’s 100m dash this past weekend. In the prelim, he dropped a new personal best of 10.29, the seventh fastest wind-legal time in D3 history. Then, he shaved off another 0.15 seconds in the final, with the help of a 3.9 tailwind, to run the No. 2 fastest time in D3 history under all conditions. Only UW-Eau Claire’s Thurgood Dennis has run faster with his +4.9 wind-aided mark of 10.12. For context, 10.14 would currently have Blaskowski seeded No. 2 on the Big Ten conference list behind Ohio State’s Eric Harrison, who has run 10.10 this season. Blaskowski pulled much of the men’s final field to all-time, all-conditions bests, including UW-Platteville’s Cade VanHout (10.29) and UW-Oshkosh’s Jaylen Grant (10.37), Aaron Richardson (10.40), Robert Ogbuli (10.41), and Denzel Thomas (10.49), all of whom currently sit in the top 15 of the nation.
These times fall on a list that is one of the fastest in D3 history. Over the past five years, the average 20th time in the men’s 100m dash was around 10.65 seconds. Now, the last time in is 10.51, a significant increase in expectation.
While the division as a whole has seen unprecedented jumps in performance across multiple events this year, perhaps these speedy times could also be partially attributed to the fact that this is also one of the windiest seasons athletes have experienced in recent years.
The NCAA considers a tailwind reading of +2.0 meters per second to be the velocity limit for eligible NCAA, American, and World records, and a reading of +4.0 to be the limit for championship qualification. Since 2016, the highest number of wind-aided marks, or those marks between +2.0 and +4.0 meters per second, in the men’s 100m was 14 out of 20. This year, 17 out of the 20 qualifying times on the NCAA list are currently considered to be wind-aided.
Wind Aided Marks over the years
The women’s 100m dash currently has 13 wind-aided marks in the top 22, a number much closer to the historic average. Matching trends similar to the men, the slowest year in women’s 100m in the past seven years was the year with the lowest number of wind-aided marks (3 in 2019), while the fastest year before 2022 saw the highest number of wind-aided marks (16 in 2017).
Despite an average number of wind-aided marks this year, however, the last time into the women’s 100m, 12.02, is still the fastest women’s 100m qualifying mark in several years, just as the men’s time of 10.51 far surpasses the marks of previous years. Though an indisputable fact that wind can aid sprint performance, another irrefutable point that is currently developing is that D3 athletes today are faster than they’ve ever been. No matter what the wind gauge says at NCAAs, the 100m finals are sure to be fast. The matchups between Blaskowski and Knox College’s Derrick Jackson, the current No. 2 seed at 10.17, as well as the battle between No. 1 and No. 2 women’s 100m seeds Malissa Lindsay of Connecticut College (No. 13 all-time) and Marcedes Jackson of North Central (No. 15 all-time) are sure to put on a good show.
Heating up in the 1500
As the final NCAA qualifying lists begin to solidify, much of the name shuffling has shifted from the top half of the list to the bottom half. Athletes in the top 10 take a breath of relief for the next two weeks, while those outside of the top 20 or 22 have been forced to turn tactical conference championship races into honest-paced qualifying attempts.
The 1500 was one such event that saw big performances this past weekend at both conference championship meets and dual meets alike. Athletes in the WIAC played no games when the men’s 1500m field saw five men dip under 3:50. Eau Claire’s Sam Verkerke led the way, winning the conference title in 3:46.18, a new No. 3 seed. He was followed across the finish line by Oshkosh’s Steven Potter (3:47.41), La Crosse’s Michael Madoch (3:48.31), teammate Jake Petri (3:48.64), and Whitewater’s Justin Krause (3:49.49).
Krause currently sits 24th with his time and is not guaranteed a spot on the line at SPIRE, even though the historic average last time in (since 2016) is 3:51.31. As of today, the 20th time in the men’s 1500 is 3:48.73, a whole 2.5 seconds faster than the average.
Other 1500m athletes hoping to have punched their tickets last week are Loras’s Ryan Harvey and Simpson’s Spencer Moon, who both ran 3:47 at Dr. Tucker, Wartburg’s Christopher Collet, who ran an impressive solo 3:47.87 at the Luther vs. Wartburg Dual Meet, and Colorado College’s Josh Fry, whose 3:57.39 at just under 7,000 ft altitude converts to a speedy 3:48.56.
In the women’s 1500m, Caltech’s Margaret Trautner was the big performer of the week, running 4:27.35 at the Oxy Invitational to jump to the No. 5 seed in this event. Loras’s Kassie Parker cruised to an easy victory at Dr. Tucker in a time of 4:27.65, while her 5k competitor Fiona Smith of St. Benedict won at a Wednesday night meet at St. Thomas, running 4:29.11. At the WIAC championship meet, La Crosse’s Maddie Hannan and Emma Malooly and Eau Claire’s Caroline Shult added their names to the top 22. Runner-up finishes from Mount Union’s Brittany McCauley and Calvin’s Sadie Heeringa at the OAC Championships and MIAA Field Day, respectively, also added these two athletes to the qualifying list. The 22nd time in this event is currently 4:35.22.
Shifting Distance Standards
The weekend additions of several 5k and 10k athletes to the national qualifying list has driven qualifying distance standards under some impressive barriers. In previous years, a mark of 36:00 or 30:00 in the 10ks and 17:00 or 14:20 in the 5ks for women and men respectively, was more than enough to guarantee an athlete’s spot on the starting line. This year, however, those athletes could be left at home.
Over the weekend in the women’s 10k, Wellesley’s Ari Marks ran a solo all-time No. 15 time of 34:16 at the D3 New England Championships. With this mark, she jumps to the No. 2 seed in this event behind Parker. The second place finisher in this race, Amy O’Sullivan of Westfield State, just dipped under 36 minutes, running 35:58.47 to rise to the No. 20 position on the qualifying list. With these two additions to the women’s 10k list, the last time in for this event is now set at 35:59.35. Similarly, in the 5k, CMS’s Riley Harmon ran 16:54.25 at Occidental to jump to No. 16 on the qualifying list and drive the last time in for this event from 17:00.46 to 16:58.10.
The men’s long distance events have seen a similar increase in expectation. Wartburg’s Joe Freiburger improved his season best time of 14:18.74 in the 5k to a 14:10.93, now No. 7 on the qualifying list. He ran this time at the Portland Twilight meet, where Puget Sound’s Colin Monoghan finished right behind Freiburger in 14:12.91, which is the current No. 10 seed. With these additions, Wilmington’s Simon Heys is now the first man out of the 5k with his time of 14:19.55. Heys is No. 5 on the 10k list, which saw no new additions to the top 20 this past weekend. The last time in for this event, however, is set at a wicked fast 29:56.53. Whitewater’s Gunner Schlender is currently the first one out with his 29:57.41, a time that would guarantee NCAA qualification any other year.
Conference Streaks
Last week was a big week for conferences across the country that saw several winning streaks live and die. The men’s team from Mount Union and the women’s teams from Moravian and UW-La Crosse successfully defended streaks of a decade or longer, while the men’s teams from UW-Oshkosh and Ursinus broke streaks to create their own winning eras.
Mount Union men won the Ohio Athletic Conference meet for the 11th year in a row, bringing their outdoor conference win count up to 38 total. The victory did not come without a fight as John Carroll’s men were tied with Mount after scoring 24 points in the men’s 5k, the meet’s penultimate event. However, not even the distance depth of John Carroll, the fourth place finishing team at XC nationals in the fall, was enough to offset the sprints and jumps dominance of Mount Union, and unluckily for John Carroll, the event that would solidify the outcome of the meet was the 4x400m relay, an event in which Mount is currently seeded No. 1 in the nation. As No. 8 seed in the men’s open 400m Matt McBride powered down the homestretch ahead of JCU’s Garrett Clark as the event’s final leg, Mount Union knew they would leave champions for the 11th year straight. With a margin of victory of just two points, JCU became the closest team to beating Mount in these 11 years.
Another team that narrowly escaped with a defending victory was that of Moravian’s women at the Landmark Conference Championships. Moravian won their fourteenth straight outdoor conference title, finishing just one point ahead of second-place team Susquehanna. Moravian was led by Crystal Robinson, who captured titles in the 200m dash and 4x100m relay, as well as a runner-up finish in the 100m and a third-place finish in the 400m. The Greyhounds scored most of their points in the sprints events, including 14 in the 400m dash, 22 in the 100m dash, and 24 in the 200m dash.
UW La Crosse women successfully defended their WIAC title for their tenth consecutive win and 36th total league victory. Collectively, the team scored a whopping 293.5 points, the highest championship score since 1996. They were led by Emma Lawrence, who swept the hurdle events for the second year in a row and also contributed to a victory in the 4x100m relay. Additionally, Mara Schroeder won the 400m dash, and Samantha Barrett won the triple jump. UW Eau Claire women were second with 137 points.
A close battle this weekend that conversely saw a broken streak and a new reigning champ was that of UW La Crosse and UW Oshkosh at the WIAC Championships. Since 1969, UW La Crosse has only lost four outdoor conference championships, a highly impressive and consistent feat. Their last loss was to Oshkosh in 1990 and since then, La Crosse has successfully defended 30 consecutive titles. But just as they did 32 years ago, Oshkosh broke a massive La Crosse streak, overtaking the 30-time-defending champs by a single point, a margin of victory that ties for the smallest in championship history. This victory is perhaps even more impressive when you look at the 4x400m relay results. Oshkosh’s team was disqualified and did not score any points in this event, yet still had enough points to snag the team title (thus luckily preventing another fruit snack fiasco).
The Rowan men won their seventh straight NJAC title. Highlighted by a 1-5 in the Javelin and an impressive sprint crew, the team tallied 300 points to take the victory. The No. 1 team in the nation giving teams reason to take notice as they round into championship form.
Finally, the men from Ursinus saw their first ever Centennial Conference victory, breaking Johns Hopkins’s men’s seven-year winning streak. This victory marks Ursinus’s second program title, one of which was previously under the Middle Athletic Conference. Their 215 points was a new program record and bested Johns Hopkins by a sizable 26 points. The team was led by the 4x100m relay squad of Octavious Carter, Tyler Reilly, Zach Crebbin, and Daniel Tabor, whose winning time of 41.94 set a new school, Centennial Conference, and championship meet record.
Sprinters Dominate 800m
In her fourth collegiate 800m, 400m specialist Alyssa Pfadenhauer of Loras dropped a No. 12 seed time of 2:11.81 to place second in the women’s 800m at Dr. Tucker this weekend. Pfadenhauer clearly has some 800m potential, having split 2:09 in the 800m leg on Loras’s runner-up DMR team indoors. Plus, with 54.33 400m speed, she could be a lethal competitor over the two-lap distance. She is currently fourth in the 400m, an event she won indoors and in which she was runner up outdoors last year, so it will be interesting to see which events she appears in at NCAAs or even next year.
Pfadenhauer wasn’t the only sprints specialist to move up in distance and drop an impressive time this past weekend, however. Rochester’s Susan Bansbach had a highly impressive conference weekend at the Liberty League Championships in which she won the 100m dash (12.40), 200m dash (24.81), 4x100m relay, and 800m run (2:12.84). Before this weekend, Bansbach had only ever run two 800s, the fastest of which was a 2:16. Now, her 2:12.84 is 19th in the nation. 800m runners everywhere are hoping that the duo of Pfadenhauer and Bansbach stay away from the 800, or at the very least, aren’t still in a race with them with 100m to go, as not many 800m women can run under 25 seconds in the 200m. A duo much more familiar with the 800m event is that of 2021 outdoor 800m national champion Mike Jasa and teammate Carter Oberfoell of Loras, both of whom set new PBs in this event over the weekend. Jasa ran 1:48.70, the No. 12 fastest men’s 800m time in D3 history, to win Dr. Tucker, while Oberfoell placed second, running 1:49.57. With this time, Oberfoell is now No. 5 in the nation. The duo will line up for their conference championship this weekend before heading to Geneva for the NCAA meet. Out at Occidental, No. 2 seed Tucker Cargile ran another sub-1:50. Cargile and Lynchburg’s Tor Hotung-Davidsen are the only two men this season to run multiple 800s under the 1:50 barrier so far.
D3 Alums Represent at USAs
Former D3 multi athletes Jack Flood and Dylan Cooper competed in the USATF Championships for the decathlon this past weekend. Cooper, the former D3 record holder in the heptathlon (before fellow UW-Eau Claire Blugold Marcus Weaver captured the record this winter), placed sixth overall with 7876 points, a new PB, while Flood placed 7th with 7759 points. Cooper placed runner-up in both the javelin (61.32 meters) and the 1500m (4:31.71). Flood was third in the 110m hurdles in 13.86, one of three PBs in individual events he set this week. Listen to D3GD podcast Episode 82 with Flood here.
D3GD host Noah Droddy competed at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Indianapolis on Saturday. He placed sixth amidst some stiff competition in a time of 63:51, just over two minutes off his personal best. Stu has some work to do if he ever wants to be D3GD’s fastest half marathoner.
Leaderboard Changes
-Geneseo’s Madison Mulder became the first woman this year to crack 55 seconds in the 400m dash, posting a time of 54.90 to win SUNYACs this past weekend and jump to first in D3. She ran 55.14 in the prelim, a time just 0.04 seconds off of her previous season best of 55.10. She also captured victories in the 200m, setting a new PR of 24.69, and the 4x100m.
-North Central’s Julia Babinec dipped under 14 seconds in the 100m hurdles, running a new PB of 13.94, No. 17 all-time in D3 history. She now leads the country in this event by over a tenth of a second. In the men’s high hurdles, Benedictine’s Koren Leonard ran a PB of 14.19 to jump to the No. 1 spot ahead of Trine’s Jake Gladieux.
-Pomona-Pitzer’s Colin Kirkpatrick posted a D3 No. 6 all-time performance in the men’s steeplechase with his time of 8:46.96 at the Oxy Invitational. This is Colin’s fourth ever steeple and continues to improve each time. He could pull an Annie Rodenfels and go for the record in the prelim. Though already in the lead, he bests his previous time of 8:53.92 by seven seconds. Whitewater’s Christian Patzka became the second man this season to dip under nine minutes with his time of 8:56.87.
Photo Credit: Kirk Reynolds - Colin Kirkpatrick on his way to the #6 AT Steeple
-East Texas Baptist and McMurry sprints squads dropped some quick times in the men’s 4x100m relay to now lead the nation as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. East Texas Baptist’s time of 40.29 is fifth all-time in D3 history, while McMurry’s 40.52 also makes it onto the all-time list. Loras’s women’s time of 46.42 now leads the nation in the women’s 4x100m relay.
-In the men’s triple jump, Utica’s Ka’Sean Watlington quite literally leaps to the top with his mark of 15.10. In 2019, Watlington was third in this event indoors and 8th outdoors. Johns Hopkins’s long jump national champion Victoria Kadiri fjumps to No. 1 in the women’s triple jump, with her leap of 12.42m, the 18th farthest in D3 history. Kadiri was Hopkins’s first program female indoor track and field national champion in the winter and could become their fourth outdoor national champion in a few weeks. -The men’s shot put is starting to stretch out, as Stout’s Kevin Ruechel now leads the nation with his No. 20 all-time toss of 18.62m. Carthage’s Joseph White sits centimeters behind with his toss of 18.01. They are the only two men so far this season to surpass 18 meters in this event.
-Carroll’s Steven Hermsen threw an impressive 58.60m (192 feet 3 inches) in the men’s discus, setting the 8th farthest throw in D3 history and becoming just one of nine men to throw over 190 feet in this event.
Fan Submitted Highlights
Marywood Men and Women won their Third Straight Title
Rhodes College Women won 14th Straight SAA Title last week
Geneseo tallied a combined 692 at SUNAYCs
Nate Oczkowski from Ithaca won 110H, 400m, and 400mH - wow
12 Guys cleared 1.97m in the WIAC HJ. Only five were seeded higher than that
Chris Scharf went 6/6 on conferences titles in the Centennial Conference this year
Evie Miller won the 10k, 1500, 2nd in the 800 and on the 3rd place 4x4 team
Lynchburg Men and Women both completed for the first ever triple crown in ODAC history
Lexi Lefever won back to back WIAC LJ
Calley Beaudoin has won four straight HJ MIAA championships
Alex Phillip triple win in the 10k, 1500, 5k.