D3 Track and Field Records Keep Breaking
We knew this past weekend would be one for the books, but nothing quite prepared us for what transpired last Friday and Saturday in D3 track & field. Three relay national records fell, the fourth athlete in D3 history broke four minutes in the mile, shattering the national record en route, and the previous national record holder in the 5k fell to an astonishing fourth in history as three athletes surpassed Dan Mayer on the all-time list. To hear more from these athletes on their record-breaking weekend, listen to our latest podcast episode with Christian Patzka, Ethan Gregg, Alex Phillip, and Ryan Wilson.
4xFast
With times across the board in D3 nearing their fastest ever, it’s no wonder that a quartet of fast times might result in a new national record. Such was the case for Loras men in the DMR, Rowan men in the 4x400, and Mount Union women in the 4x200 this weekend.
Loras men kicked off the weekend of national records when they threw down a time of 9:39.80 to place second overall to D1 program Monmouth at BU Friday night. Their splits were as follows:
Wyatt Kelly - 2:58.30
Ted Kruse - 48.42
Mike Jasa - 1:48.01
Ryan Harvey - 4:05.08
For context, the latter three times in this relay would all qualify to the national meet in the open event (and we are convinced Kelly’s 2:58 would, too, if the 1200 was a national event). Special shoutout to Kelly and Harvey for sporting the coveted indoor backwards hats while making national track & field news.
Their time of 9:39.80 marks the first time in D3 history that a program has run under 9:40 in this event, and bests last year’s national record of 9:41.56 set by John Carroll last year. In fact, the top six marks in D3 history have all been set in the past year:
Loras - 9:39.80 - 2023
JCU - 9:41.56 - 2022
Williams - 9:42.29 - 2022
Geneseo - 9:43.13 - 2023
MIT - 9:44.98 - 2023
Loras - 9:45.33 - 2022
The quartet from SUNY Geneseo comes in at No. 4 all-time after this weekend, just ahead of MIT, after running 9:43.13 with their squad of Nicky Andrews, Kieran Sheridan, Joshua Goldberg, and Ezra Ruggles. Pomona-Pitzer also joins the top-10 list after running 9:48.90, No.10 all-time.
Mount Union women continued the action at All-Ohio on Saturday when they posted a 4x200-meter relay time of 1:40.25, surpassing the previous documented record of 1:41.55 held by Nebraska Wesleyan from 2019. The squad of Kennady Gibbins, Madison Miles, Taylor Cupp, and Kenadee Wayt averaged 25.06 per 200, a time that would fall in the top 20 on the descending order list currently. The Raiders have a strong anchor in Wayt, who currently sits No. 5 on the qualifying list in the 200 with her time of 24.75 and No. 4 on the qualifying list in the 400 with her time of 56.04.
Though the 4x200 is not a nationally contested event, Mount Union is no stranger to excellence in the relays. Gibbins, Miles, Wayt, and Mary Mason took fourth in the 4x400 at last year’s outdoor championships. All four athletes return this year and have already posted the current No. 6 fastest time this season.
Rounding out a weekend of fast relays were the familiar faces of the Rowan men’s 4x400 relay. The power-quartet of Marquise Young, Nana Agyemang, Jah’mere Beasley, and Amara Conte captured gold at last year’s indoor championships in dramatic fashion. Though initially disqualified for an apparent obstruction (officials took an hour-long fruit snack break and finally concluded that indoor track and field on a flat 200-meter track just happens to be a little crowded), Rowan was reinstated at the end of the day as champions.
With all four team members returning this year, this squad sends a message that they have leveled up even further in the 2023 season. At Boston, they dropped a blistering time of 3:10.09 to narrowly miss the victory over Princeton by eight-hundredths of a second.
In doing so, they shattered the previous national record of 3:11.10 held by Lincoln (Pa.) from 2004. Finishing right behind them was the SUNY Geneseo squad of Lance Jensen, William Doyle, Ibrahim Ayorinde, and Kieran Sheridan, who ran 3:11.65, the third fastest time in D3 history.
In total, three different teams–Rowan, Geneseo, and Williams–have posted times this year that fall on the top 10 all-time list indoors (excluding program duplicates). Add to the mix Bethel, UW-La Crosse and John Carroll, all of whom have seeds under 3:15, and the national championship 4x400 is going to be a battle.
Best Performance of the Weekend
Amidst all the national records, it’s tough to choose just one that stands out as the best performance of the weekend. Was it two WIAC athletes working together on a flat 200-meter track in Whitewater, Wisc. to run under Dan Mayer’s 29 year-old record? Was it the two-times-defending cross country national champion breaking that same record eight hours later as he finished less than half a second behind future UNC teammate and son-of-an-Olympian Will Coogan? Or was it the teamwork from mid-distance powerhouse Loras as they cruised to a new national record in the DMR whilst wearing backwards hats? While each of these efforts was immensely impressive, our jaws dropped the lowest when Ryan Wilson from MIT did this:
This performance puts Wilson just outside of All-American status at No. 11 on the NCAA D1 qualifying list and No. 1 on the D2 list by over two seconds, hence why we deem this run the performance of the weekend.
Top 5 Performances that Caught our Attention
National records aside, there were several performances that caught our attention this past weekend:
With all action happening at BU, we *almost* saw another D3 Record. Cheick Traore had already put up the No. 8 All-Time 400 by running earlier in the day after his 47.45. He nearly closed the day by breaking Sam Blaskowski’s 200m record. His day ended with a 21.27 200m and tied for 2nd All-Time. He’s No. 2 outdoors as well. We’re less than a month away from a rematch of JP Vaught, Sam Blaskowski, Cheick Traore, and Eric Gregory in the 200m.
Over in the 3k, Annika Urban/Fiona Smith shared the second best performance of the weekend. They both ran 9:28.14 in two different states. Fiona did so on a flat track to gain the No. 1 spot in the country. They each will take a share of the No. 8 slot on the All-Time List. They’re leading a deep even in the 3k right which see 20th at 9:52.99. With just under a month to go, we could see the national cutoff under 9:50.
Bennett Booth-Genthe flew across the country, ran 4:01.90 and unfortunately, wasn’t the best miler of the weekend. D3 is a wild new frontier when a 4:01 performance does lead the nation or headline the weekend. Bennett sits 8th All-Time. Bennett leads the charge of a resurgence in the men’s mile as seven men have run 4:04 or faster
Grace Devanny pulled off another impressive double at BU. She jumped into the lead in both the 400/200 while moving into No. 8 All-Time in each event. With a national record in the 500m, running All-Time times, and leading the nation, it’s safe to say Grace is gonna be ready for the nation in Birmingham.
Another week goes by and Birgen Nelson continues to run faster than the former National Record in the 60m. After running 8.38 in December, Nelson has gone on to run 8.39 and 8.41 in back to back weekends. Her 8.41 happened this weekend so give her the top three times in D3 history.
Leaderboard Changes
The NCAA D3 leaderboards saw lots of changes this past weekend. Take a look at who rose to the top.
Women’s 60m - Tina Shelton (Wisconsin Whitewater) - 7.55
Women’s 200m - Grace Devanny (Wesleyan) - 24.42
Women’s 400m - Grace Devanny (Wesleyan) - 55.26
Men’s 400 - Cheickna Traore (Ramapo) - 47.45
Women’s 800m: Emma Kelley (WashU) - 2:08.85*
Men’s Mile - Ryan Wilson (MIT) - 3:55.29 (National Record)
Women’s 3k: Fiona Smith (St. Benedict) - 9:23.31*
Men’s 5k - Christian Patzka (Wisconsin Whitewater) - 13:40.26*
Men’s 60h - Eli Etherton (Nebraska Wesleyan) - 8.05
Women’s 4x400 - Loras - 3:47.74
Men’s 4x400 - Rowan - 3:10.09 (National Record)*
Men’s DMR - Loras 9:39.80 (National Record)
Men’s pole vault - Christian Di Nicolantonio (Catholic) - 5.05m (ties No. 1)
Men’s long jump - Kenneth Wei (MIT) - 7.46m
*converted
Meets to Watch this weekend
The Indoor US Championships are this weekend and D3 past and present will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a stake at being one of the best track and field athletes in the country. You can find meet information here.
D3 Athletes Competing
Birgen Nelson - 60mH - Gustavus Adolphus
Simone Wilson - 400m - Concordia Chicago
Kayla Armstrong - 400m - Concordia Chicago
Anna Connor - 800m - George Fox
Jenn Randall - 3k - Ithaca
Liz Evans - HJ - Rose Hulman
Melanie Winters - LJ/HJ - Baldwin Wallace
Marissa Kalsey - PV - Westminster
Sam Blaskowski - 60m - UW Lacrosse
Gavin Colley - 60m - Widener
Taylor Rooney - 60mH - Gustavus Adolphus
Allen Summral - 3k - Bates
Kyle Rollins - HJ - St. John Fisher
Josh Colley - LJ - Widener
Luke Winder - PV - North Central
Sean Donnelly - WT - Mount Union
Roger Steen - SP - UW-Eau Claire
Will Daniels - Hep - Central
With the majority of the conference meets happening in the next two weeks, we may not see as many fireworks this weekend. However, three conferences are getting indoor conference meets underway. They include:
Coast-to-Coast Athletic Indoor Championships
Little East Indoor Championships
NJAC Indoor Championships
Alumni News
Springfield alum Jack Pinho broke the four-minute barrier for the first time this weekend at Boston, running a new lifetime best of 3:59.54
Messiah alum and current Virginia grad transfer Esther Seeland posted a new indoor PB of 2:03.67 in the women’s 800m, which puts her at No. 14 on the D1 descending order list in this event
Centre grad and D3 sensation Annie Rodenfels ran a speedy 15:31 5k at Boston this past weekend to place eighth in a deep field
Johns Hopkins grad and current Colorado grad student Ella Baran cracked nine minutes in the 3k this past weekend at the Husky Classic in Washington. Her time of 8:58.51 puts her 17th in D1 currently
SUNY Geneseo Alum, Alexa Bandy, set the facility record at BU in the TJ with a jump of 13.46m (44’2”)