As rain and wind around the country finally started to subside and many runners recovered from a big distance weekend last week, this past weekend allowed for some different characters to step into the spotlight. Centre’s JP Vaught, Trine’s Evie Miller, and Johns Hopkins’s Ella Baran all made national history, and several more performances added to the anticipation of a quickly approaching national meet. Here are some of the highlights of what happened last weekend. 

Vaught shatters 200m national record

This weekend was headlined by Centre College’s JP Vaught, who set a new NCAA D3 national record in the men’s 200m dash.

Vaught, a three-time national champion (twice in the 200m and once in the 100m), ran a wind-legal 20.66 at the University of Kentucky, shattering the previous national record of 20.80 set by SUNY Oneonta’s Sean Bernstein in 2012. Vaught’s previous outdoor time of 21.06 from last year was No. 17 all-time in D3 history, while his indoor time of 21.36 is No. 8 all-time indoors. 

When he climbed into his blocks right alongside NIKE’s Christian Coleman, he was also preparing himself to climb to the top of the history books, past big names that previously preceded him on the outdoor list, like Thurgood Dennis, the indoor 200m national record holder, Derrick Rippy, the 100m national record holder, and Andrew Rock, the indoor and outdoor 400m national record holder. Now, “JP Vaught” is a name people will remember for years to come. 

Derrick Jackson’s 10.17 100m dash under scrutiny

Another name you might recognize from the weekend is Derrick Jackson of Knox College. Jackson was credited with capturing the 100m national record with his time of 10.17 set out at the Culver Stockton Wildcat Open in Canton, Missouri. However, some time after the announcement that he had set a new D3 national record, his mark was later moved to the bottom of the USTFCCCA national record list under “Not Considered for Lists,” citing it as a “questionable mark.” 

We will keep you updated as the right governing bodies likely continue to investigate this situation for both national record and NCAA qualifying purposes.

Jackson, regardless of the decision, is certainly a player to look out for in this year’s championships. Last year, he took 5th in the men’s 100m and 6th in the men’s 200m. Perhaps this confusion may even help to give him an extra edge as he continues his path to NCAAs. He is currently entered in the 100m dash at the historical Drake Relays this weekend, where he will have another opportunity to drop a fast time. Maybe while he’s there, he can even strike up a conversation with Olympic shot putter Ryan Crouser about the need for perfect meet management for the sake of the athletes. 

Baran and Miller make history

Picks for National Athlete of the Week had to be tough on the women’s side this week, as two women both rose to No. 2 all-time in their respective events this past weekend. 

The first was Trine’s Evie Miller who has been having the year of a lifetime, setting PRs in six different events across all seasons: the 6k in the fall, the mile and 3k indoors, and the 1500, 3k steeple, and 5k outdoors. This weekend was the first time she has repeated an event this season, as each week she seems to be running in (and excelling at) something different. 

In her second 3k steeple of the year and third steeple ever, Miller dropped a 10:06.26, the second fastest women’s steeple in D3 history behind Centre’s Annie Rodenfels, who is currently the only woman to have run sub-10 in this event. With this time, Miller now leads the country by 26 seconds. 

Miller, an eight-time All-American, has never won a national title. Though on the national list in four events, steeple is the only one she currently leads. In the fall, we watched Miller leave the comfort of the chase pack early to challenge eventual national champion Kassie Parker. Indoors, we watched her take a narrow runner-up finish in the mile to Ella Baran. Now, with no one in striking distance, Miller is forging her path to earning the national title she has been fighting for all year. 

The other performance of the weekend that turned plenty of heads was Johns Hopkins’s Ella Baran’s sub-16 5k at UVA. Baran ran 15:49.09 to place third among a slew of respectable D1 runners like NC State’s Katelyn Tuohy and Hannah Steelman, Michigan State’s Jenna Magness, and Duke’s Michaela Reinhart. With her time, she becomes just the third woman in D3 history to dip under 16 minutes in the 5k indoors or out. She also bridges a 30 second gap between Wartburg’s Missy Buttry’s national record of 15:37 and the previous No. 2 time of 16:07 held by UW-La Crosse’s Tori Neubauer. 

Baran is currently ranked top 10 in D3 history for four events, including her indoor mile national record of 4:40.53. She leads the nation by large margins in both the 1500 and the 5k, raising the anticipation for NCAAs in May and putting the ball in the court of Loras’s Parker, the indoor 5k national champion who has yet to drop an outdoor time in the 5k. 

4x400m U

Mount Union loaded up their 4x400m relays this weekend and headed down to Ohio State for the Jesse Owens Track Classic. 

The men’s squad of Matt McBride, Tyler Gill, Dylon Campbell, and Jared Storm dropped a nation-leading time of 3:11.26 to surpass indoor national champion team Rowan on the men’s 4x400 qualifying list and place third among some stiff competition. Though world medalist Trevor Bassitt did not run on Ashland’s team, the victory over this D2 team as well as several D1 teams indicated a big performance out of the D3 program from Alliance, OH.

The women’s squad of Kennady Gibbons, Cortni Arp, Mary Mason, and Madison Miles also rose in the national rankings with their time of 3:50.07. This team omits two women who have run well under 60 seconds this season, indicating immense depth on UMU’s 400 squad.

In fact, the relationship between UMU and the 400m and 4x400m events runs deep, as this program boasts 20 total All-American honors in the open 400m (10 men and 10 women), two national champions (AJ Digby in the men’s 400m and Mary Mahoney in the women’s 400m), 25 All-American 4x400m teams (18 men’s teams and seven women’s teams), and nine total national titles in the 4x400m relay (eight men’s teams and one women’s team). With history like that to uphold, both squads are sure to bring their best to SPIRE in May. 

UAA’s or NCAA warm up?

The first of conference championships has already taken place, as UAA held their conference meet this past weekend with UAA schools Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western, Emory, NYU, Rochester, U of Chicago, and Wash U. 

Wash U won on both the men’s and women’s sides, but these victories did not come without a fight. On the women’s side, U of Chicago saw victories from Isabel Maletich in both horizontal jumps events, a No. 9 seeded time from Maya Ordonez in the women’s 800m, and a one-two sweep from Claudia Harnett and Maddie Kelly in the women’s 1500m. These efforts among many others elevated U Chicago to a second place finish. The Wash U men narrowly escaped with the victory over Carnegie Mellon, who finished a mere five points behind.

A finish this close behind indoor co-national champions Wash U should mean big things are in store for the squad from Carnegie Mellon. Currently, they have 10 male athletes and one relay into the national meet. Six of these national-qualifying marks came from the UAA meet, including Justin Kiefel’s national lead in the long jump of 7.55m and No. 3 seed in the triple jump of 14.73m. Add Bram Miller’s No. 3 seed in the shot put and No. 4 seed in the discus, as well as Michael Obroin’s No. 3 seed in the 5k, and Carnegie Mellon could score big at NCAAs. 

Of the many elements that make this meet unique to other conference meets is its earlier calendar date and Saturday to Sunday schedule, perhaps one of the most valuable takeaways for athletes is the caliber of competition they receive just about a month out from the national meet. With national powerhouses Wash U and Carnegie Mellon on the men’s side and Wash U and U of Chicago on the women’s side, this meet often has a caliber of competition similar to what one might expect at the national meet (without several key players of course). 

Of some of the top-scoring conferences from the indoor championships in March, the UAA ranked second  in points scored to the WIAC on the men’s side and fourth to the ARC, WIAC, and NESCAC on the women’s side. With the addition and subtraction of events and athletes outdoors, these rankings could surely shift, but the simple fact that several of the athletes competing at UAAs will also be represented at NCAAs remains, making this one of the most competitive conference meets in the country.

Shuffling in the leaderboards

Several more lead changes occurred to the national lists over this weekend across multiple events. On the women’s side, Stout’s Hannah Zastrow took the lead from Gustavus Adolphus’s Birgen Nelson in the women’s 100m hurdles with her time of 14.05 at the Phil Esten Challenge. In the 400m hurdles, Concordia Chicago’s Simone Wilson ran 60.41 to rise to the No. 1 seed. Wilson is the only athlete under 61 in this event so far this year. 

Field events are starting to heat up, as Tufts’s Jaidyn Appel took the lead in women’s high jump, clearing 1.72m (or 5’7.75”). Platteville’s Brianna Leahy set a massive PR in the shot put with a toss of 15.34m, a national lead by 68 centimeters and No. 7 all-time in D3 history. In the women’s javelin, Pacific Lutheran’s Ava Nelson tossed 45.79m, the only mark on the qualifying list currently over 150 feet. Indoor national champion Hannah Zenkovich of La Crosse is back in full force, having scored 5033 points in the women’s heptathlon to currently lead this event. Ithaca’s Logan Bruce trails her just slightly with her score of 5006 from this past weekend. 

In the men’s events, the 4x100m team from Dubuque as well as the squad from Oshkosh surpassed previous leaders Hardin-Simmons with their times of 40.59 and 40.66, respectively. 2021 outdoor national triple jump champion Ahmir Johnson of Rowan leaped to an impressive 15.00m in the men’s triple jump to lead the country by 21 centimeters. This leap marked Johnson’s second mark over 15m, the other being his national-title winning 15.11m. Carthage’s Joseph White threw 17.79m in the men’s shot put to surpass indoor national shot put champion Kevin Ruechel of Stout by two centimeters. Bethel’s Gabe Irons threw 55.55m in the discus, a national lead by almost an entire meter. 

What to watch for this weekend

-Kassie Parker is entered in the seeded section of the women’s 5k at the Drake Relays Distance Carnival Thursday night at 7:11pm CST. Following her 5k national record indoors and 10k national record earlier this season, she will likely make an attempt to add another national record to her resume. The time to beat is 15:37.48, set by Wartburg’s Missy Buttry.

Results for Drake Relays found here

-Johns Hopkins’s Ella Baran and Messiah’s Esther Seeland will face off in the Championship 1500 at Penn Relays Thursday at 6:15pm EST. Both are coming off of impressive performances from last week at UVA, as Baran dropped the No. 2 all-time women’s 5k in 15:49.09, and Seeland ran her third best ever 800m in 2:03.66. The pair of Baran and Seeland currently sit at No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in the women’s 1500m, but only Baran has run under 4:20 this season. The current national record is 4:13.69, set by Emily Pomainville last year. 

-John Carroll duo Alex Phillip and Jamie Dailey are set to race in the men’s championship 5k at Penn Relays Thursday at 8:30pm EST. After narrowly missing the indoor 5k and outdoor 10k national records this year, Phillip is on a mission to set his first national record by capturing Dhruvil Patel’s outdoor 5k national record of 13:51.40.

-The indoor national champion and current No. 2 outdoor seed 4x400 team from Rowan will take the start line in a loaded Penn Relays field Friday at 3:40. The national lead in this event is currently 3:11.26, and the national record is 3:07.42, set by Lincoln (Pa.) in 2005. 

Results for Penn Relays found here

-Several conference championships will take place this weekend, including the west-coast SCIAC championships, east-coast NESCAC championships, and the south SAA championships. Some big performers to follow are Williams’s Aidan Ryan and Connecticut College’s Malissa Lindsey at NESCACs, Centre’s Vaught and Meghan Owens at SAAs, and Redlands’s Andrea Lyons and Tucker Cargile, CMS’s Meredith Bloss and Caroline DelVecchio, and Pomona-Pitzer’s Bennett Booth-Genthe and Colin Kirkpatrick at SCIACs. 

Final Thoughts

At this point in the season, it seems no record is safe. With these these historic performances week after week, the notion of ‘division doesn’t matter’ rings true. Fast is fast, regardless of where you go to school. Let’s enjoy what we’re witnessing this season and prepare for what is to come at Nationals.