Two Records, One Hour Apart
D3 records dropping like flies
In a weekend star-studded with records at all levels, D3 standouts Sam Blaskowski and Alex Phillip made sure that D3 received an invitation to the party.
Both set new D3 records in their respective events of the 200-meter dash and the 3,000-meter run. These records came nearly an hour apart on Friday night. Blaskowski’s 200-meter record of 21.13 took down UW Eau Claire’s Thurgood Dennis’s record of 21.27 from 2014. The closest current D3 athlete to taking down this record so far has been Bowdoin’s Ajay Olson, who ran 21.31, No. 5 all-time in D3 history, last year in February. Also on the top-ten list are Ramapo’s Cheick Traore, who ran 21.32 (No. 7 all-time), and Centre’s JP Vaught, who ran 21.37 (No. 9 all-time). Each of these performances happened last year and propelled the latter two of these athletes to a 1-2 finish in the outdoor 200-meter final last spring.
Blaskowski beat Vaught head-to-head in the outdoor 100-meter dash final last spring at the NCAA championships, then went on to place fourth in the 200-meter dash final. He was the first athlete behind Vaught, Traore, and Gallaudet’s Eric Gregory to miss breaking the previous outdoor 200-meter national record of 20.80 set by SUNY Oneonta’s Sean Bernstein. Blaskowski ran 20.80 exactly to tie Bernstein’s previous record. Now, eight months later, Blaskowski finally got his record.
While Blaskowski was cooling down from his efforts at the Gately Indoor Complex in Chicago, Phillip was coming inside from the streets of Boston as he warmed up for his record attempt in the 3k at BU. He stepped on the track just after On pro Yared Nuguse set a new American record of 7:28.24. The track was going to be particularly fast in Boston that night. Just one year ago, Williams standout Aidan Ryan set the 3k national record of 7:54.48 on this same track. He beat Phillip, who was in a slower heat, by 13 seconds. Phillip went on to beat Ryan head-to-head in this event at indoor nationals in a tactical race, wiping out any hopes of a D3 record being set in Winston-Salem.
Just how it did for Blaskowski, however, patience prevailed. Phillip earned his national record–the first on the track of his D3 career. His eyes are likely now set on a second record: North Central’s Dan Mayer’s 28-year-old 5k record of 13:53.17. According to John Carroll’s schedule, Phillip will be returning to Boston in a few weeks for the Valentine Invitational. The days of Mayer’s long-reigning 5k record could be extremely limited.
Hometown advantage for MIT
In a later heat at Boston, MIT’s Sam Acquaviva dropped an 8:00.41, the No. 4 fastest time in D3 history. The third-place cross country All-American just missed adding his name to a prestigious list of athletes to have broken 8 minutes in the 3k: Phillip, Ryan, Mayer. In an even later heat, teammate and fifth-place cross country All-American and 800-meter national champion Ryan Wilson faced off with RPI’s Matt Lecky. The pair ran 8:07.26 and 8:11.65, with Lecky emerging victorious. With these performances, Lecky moves up to No. 6 all-time and Wilson to No. 18 all-time.
The MIT Engineers had quite the showing in their home city on Friday. In addition to Acquaviva and Wilson’s performance in the 3k, Matthew Kearney and Andrew Mah threw down in the 5k to run 14:01.76 and 14:10.54, respectively. Nestled between the two was Haverford’s Ryan Kredell, who finished right behind Kearney in 14:02.37. All three athletes move up the all-time list–Kearney is now No. 7, Kredell No. 8, and Mah No. 13. MIT also had strong performances in the mile, 1k, and 800.
Here’s a breakdown of times that they produced this weekend, making it no wonder they were the overwhelming victors at cross country nationals in the fall.
The quartet of Wilson, Conrad Casebolt, Henry Hardart, and Acquaviva teamed up to race a DMR as well, running 9:44.98, the third fastest time in D3 history behind John Carroll’s and Williams’s record-breaking performances from last year. What’s remarkable about MIT's Friday feat is that this looks like what a team can accomplish at the END of the season, not on a Friday in January.
When it comes to team success, Haverford also showed impressive performances out of standouts Kredell and Jamie Moreland. Moreland rose to the top of the national leaderboards in the mile when he ran 4:03.66. Not only does this performance move ahead of Phillip’s 4:04.13 mile from last weekend, but it comes in at No. 8 all-time in D3 history. Moreland ran in the same heat as D3 alum Jack Pinho, who ran a new mile PR of 4:02.46.
On Saturday, two-time D3 Glory Days guest, Annie Rodenfels continued her indoor campaign running 4:34. After testing out some road races in the fall/early winter, we’re excited to see what Rodenfels can do on the track.
Fast 3ks in the WIAC
Another week, another WIAC athlete showing that you can run fast on flat tracks. UW Whitewater’s Christian Patzka moves into the top ten all time in the men’s 3k with his 8:09.76 at the Leonard "Squig" Converse Invitational & Multi meet. Patzka joins UW La Crosse’s Ethan Gregg as the other WIAC athlete under 8:10. For those keeping score at home, that’s four WIAC athletes in the top ten performance list right now.
Depth in the women’s races
It was business as usual for St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith & Carleton’s Clara Mayfield at the Mark Schuck Open and Multi in Mankato. Coming off a successful fall campaign, where they finished second and third, respectively, they opened up their first 5k of the season in style by moving into No. 14 and No. 16 on the all-time list with their 16:36.54 and 16:38.64 performances. There are currently six women under 17 minutes in the 5k already, including Emory’s Annika Urban, Hope’s Ana Tucker, John Hopkins’s Alex Ross, and St. Olaf’s Sofia Carlson. Smith leads a deep list with her converted 16:28.97.
Tucker, Smith, and Mayfield also sit at the top of the current women’s 3k list, which, after this weekend, looks like a cross country dual meet between U of Chicago and SUNY Geneseo. Last week at the I 55 Invite, Chicago women put eight women at 10:12 or faster in the 3k (which converts to 10:06 or faster), led by Maddie Kelly, who ran a converted 9:48. If there was a D3 equivalent to University of Washington’s stunning eight athletes under 4 minutes in the same mile race (shoutout D3 alum Aidan Ryan), this might be it. That was until this past weekend when SUNY Geneseo replicated this impressive feat, placing eight athletes at 10:12 or faster.
In comparing the two, if you scored out the current top 50 like it were a cross country meet, it would look something like this:
U of Chicago 6-13-16-17-20 72
SUNY Geneseo 8-10-14-21-32 85
It’s no wonder these two teams spent much of the fall season ranked in the top five of the nation. All but one of these athletes currently have 3k times on the list that are under 10 minutes. U of Chicago’s “fourth,” Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, only ran one race in the fall halfway through the cross country season. The depth of these two programs is a feat that continues to impress.
Outdoor? Already?
While the midwest has to deal with below freezing real-feel, the California kids are enjoying running indoor distances on the outdoor track. Pomona’s Bennett Booth-Genthe ripped a 2:26.72 1k in sunny Claremont. While the west coast pulls the short straw in cross country having to travel, they get reimbursed with nice weather all year.
A new challenger emerges
Coming off an already historically deep 2022 Indoor season, we knew we’d be in for a treat in 2023. Last year’s national field featured only 3 seniors, and with most of the finals field already setting strong marks, this year looks to be as competitive as ever. Out on the west coast, Whitworth’s Solo Hines made his presence known by throwing down a scorching 6.71 at the Podium in Spokane, tied for No. 5 in D3 history. He is currently ranked No. 2 in the country behind Sam Blaskowski’s 6.70 earlier this month. With 6 athletes currently under 6.77, this is not going to be an event to sleep on.
Gregory is on the track
This is the first season Gallaudet is sponsoring indoor track, which means we get to see Eric Gregory on the indoor track. While Gallaudet has run indoor meets in the past, they are now eligible to compete at nationals. Gregory picks up where he left off by entering the all-time list at No. 21 with his 21.56. The returning national champion in the 400 looks to be in strong shape already so look out for a quick 400 meter dash here soon.
Adding to the All-Time List
Men’s 800m: Tor Hotung-Davidsen (Lynchburg) moved to No. 15 all-time, running 1:50:43 at the Wittenberg Steemer Showcase. He led a group of six men under 1:53.50 with Wabash freshman Haiden Diemer-McKinney running a 1:51.67. All six are currently in the top-20 marks in the nation.
More changes in the leaderboard:
Women’s 60m: Kiara Tan of Williams ran 7.61 at Middlebury's New England Small College Invitational. This mark ties for 24th all-time best performance in D3 history. Tan was one spot off of All-American at last year’s indoor championship and will look to make sure that isn’t the case this year.
Long jump: Reigning long jump and triple jump champion Victoria Kadiri set the top mark in the nation for the long jump with her 5.89-meter mark at the Patriot Games. This is her second mark in this event in the top 25 all-time list. She currently has the top mark for the long jump and triple jump, and is second in the pentathlon.
In the men’s long jump, Ahmir Johnson leaped 7.38 meters at Dr. Sander to take a 10-centimeter lead over Ripon’s Cade Gray.
Women’s mile: Remember when we talked about Chicago’s depth in the 3k? Well, they have it in the mile as well. Not only did Maddie Kelly lead three other teams under five minutes in the mile, but she now leads the nation after running 4:53.94 at the Aurora Grand Prix. In lieu of the four Chicago women sub five, they had an additional five under 5:11.
4x400 relays: Rowan men now have the top time in the nation with a 3:15.08 from the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge set by the team of Amara Conte, Evan Corcoran, Nana Agyemang, and Jah'mere Beasley. This performance puts them at No. 14 on the all-time list. Rowan has 8 marks on the top-25 list in this event over the last 5 years. They won last year’s indoor championships in a dramatic finish where they were first disqualified then requalified, their crown reinstated.
Another perennial top 400 program added two more performances to the all-time lists this weekend as Mount Union men and women both ran nationally ranked times. The squad of Tyler Gill, Brady Burrey, Justin Knoch, and Matt McBride ran 3:15.52 at the Penn State National Open. This is their seventh mark on the all-time list in their program’s history. Mount missed advancing to last year’s indoor championship final after a last-minute substitution for Jared Storm, who suffered an unfortunate injury during his 400-meter prelim. Mount went on outdoors to beat Rowan head-to-head in the final. An indoor matchup between these two squads is sure to be nail-biting.
The women’s squad of Kenadee Wayt, Kennady Gibbins, Mary Mason, and Madison Miles of Mount Union ran a national-leading time of 3:51.06, which also comes in at No. 22 all-time. Wayt is currently No. 3 on the leaderboard in the open 400 with her converted time of 56.40.
High jump: Upon the graduation of four-time national champion Kyle Rollins of St. John Fisher, D3 men’s high jumpers everywhere salivated at the thought of a national title being wide open. What they didn’t expect was a freshman to enter the competitive ranks. UW River Falls’s Yaih Marial cleared 2.08 meters this weekend at the Jack Johnson Classic to jump to the top of the men’s high jump leaderboard. The freshman opened his season at 2.02 meters and has consistently cleared mid-six-foot every weekend this season.
Tufts’s Jaidyn Appel extended her lead in the women’s high jump, clearing 1.73 meters at the New Balance facility in Boston. She caught up with Amherst’s Mary Kate McGranahan on our Instagram takeover.