The Records Keep Rolling In
Historical runs from Seeland, Baran, and Parker
It wouldn’t be the 2022 indoor season if there weren’t at least two records broken in a weekend. The amount of records that have been broken so far would make you think the indoor season is already wrapped up. However, this season is not even halfway done. A new wave of talented athletes is rewriting the record books and elevating Division 3 to a new level. While the spotlight was on the men last weekend with four national records falling; this weekend was all about women’s distance.
In total, three women’s distance events saw new national records: the 800m, the mile, and the 3k. These performances add to a growing list of distance records already broken this year after Williams’s Aidan Ryan broke the men’s mile record a week and a half ago and ran an all-time best time in the men’s 3k two weeks prior and Trinity’s Travis Martin took down the 1k national record, adding up to a whopping six national records in distance events so far this season. At this rate and with the amount of talent in the division currently, we have to think both men’s and women’s 5k records are on borrowed time as well.
One of the most head-turning performances of the weekend occurred at the Dr. Sander Invite in New York City where John Hopkins’ Ella Baran ran 4:40.53 in the mile, a new D3 national record that clocks in three and a half seconds ahead of Missy Buttry’s previous record of 4:43.92. Baran hopped on a train of professionals as the only collegiate in the field and raced like she belonged. Perhaps she drew inspiration from Ryan, who also shattered the mile record by over two seconds amid pro talent. Although Baran will look toward the 3k next weekend in Boston, she could be the first woman in D3 history to run a mile under 4:40 as just under five weeks of the indoor season remain. She called her 4:40 shot on The Double a few weeks back, which we think puts her in high favor as she heads to BU this weekend since she also mentioned wanting to run 9:23 on the live show.
To add to the grandness of the weekend, cross country national champion Kassie Parker of Loras headed to Notre Dame for the Meyo Invite, where she broke the national record in the 3k. Parker placed fourth in a competitive field of Division 1 runners with a time of 9:13.10 lowering the D3 national record by .03 seconds. She joins Buttry as the second woman in history to break the 9:20 mark and could presumably become the only woman to run under 16 minutes in the 5k as well, as Ithaca’s Parley Hannan currently holds the national record of 16:05. Depending on what Baran and Parker run at the national meet, we could see an epic matchup.
Finally, in the women’s 800m, two-time national champion Esther Seeland of Messiah joined Baran at the Dr. Sander Invite and ran 2:05.90 to place fourth among pros and D1 runners. Her time is the third-fastest time recorded indoors and the fastest on a standardized 200m track, thus making it a USTFCCCA national record (USTFCCCA abides by international regulations, which exclude performances on oversized tracks). Regardless, Seeland has more than displayed her range this season, setting personal bests in the mile and 3k. It is simply a matter of time until she lowers her indoor 800m time even more, perhaps to the fastest 800m recorded in D3 indoor history.
Photo Credit: Johnny Zhang
Men’s Distance Highlights
In the men’s distance events, Loras also had an impressive performance from 800m specialist Mike Jasa. Jasa lowered his personal best from 1:50.00 to 1:49.45, his first time dipping under 1:50. This time places him fifth all-time on the D3 all-conditions list. Jasa will likely make a lot of noise in the DMR as he is joined by teammates Carter Oberfoell and Ryan Harvey who have personal bests of 1:52 in the 800 and 4:10 in the mile, respectively.
Some other top performances include some quick men’s miles. Tucker Cargile of Redlands ran 4:15 in NAU’s Skydome at 7,000 feet altitude, placing third behind two pros. With Altitude and flat-track conversion, he’ll come up as a 4:09.15 miler on the TFRRs list. MIT’s Ryan Wilson ran a 4:06 in Boston to place 13th in a field of pros and D1 athletes. Finally, Haverford’s Jamie Moreland, WashU’s Jacob Ridderhoff, and Lynchburg’s Sam Llaneza all ran a 4:10 mile to bring even more depth to the event.
Looking at some movement in the 3k, Matyas Csiki-Fejer of Suffolk and Spencer Moon of Simpson College ran 8:12 and 8:15, respectively, to continue to add to the slew of men that have run 8:15 or faster this year. This list could easily grow to nine over the weekend as XC national champion and runner-up Alex Phillip and Elias Lindgren are set to face off at BU.
Nick Andrews of SUNY Geneseo ran 14:23 for 5k at the Ithaca Bomber Invite, becoming the fifth man this season to run that time. The men’s 5k at nationals could be in for a nail-biting finish with 10 men already under the 14:30 barrier.
In the DMR, Wartburg and Mount Union join the conversation by dipping just under the 10-minute barrier with times of 9:59.21 and 9:59.81, respectively. Add in Pomona-Pitzer to make three teams who have gone under 10 minutes so far in the men’s event this season–though the performances of Mount and Pomona will get converted as they occurred on a 300m track. Wartburg will be positioned nicely headed into the national meet with their flat-track, unconverted time. The team from Wartburg also leads the women’s DMR after this weekend and is the only team to run under 12 minutes so far this season. All of these teams will eagerly be watching this weekend’s DMR at BU to see where they sit after this weekend.
Heating up in the sprints and the field
In the sprint events, Jalen Leonard Osbourne of Ithaca tied the current national leader in the 60m with a time of 6.78. At The Armory, Cheickna Traore of Ramapo ran a 21.61 200m to win the D3 open. Both times place these men on the top 25 all-time list for Division 3. In the 400m dash, two more men have dipped under 49 in Wartburg’s Dallas Wright and Concordia-Moorhead’s Tommy Kern, the latter a member of the No. 3 4x400m relay team on the descending order list after this weekend.
Maddie Moran of Nebraska Wesleyan claimed the fastest 60m time in the nation with a 7.60. Her teammate, Isabella Hogue, sits second on the list right now with her time of 7.63. Watch out for this 4x100m relay team come outdoor season. In the 400m, Alyssa Pfadenhauer of Loras ran a 55.95 at the Wartburg Select Meet, while teammate Marion Edwards took over the national lead in the 200m with a time of 25.27. In the 60m hurdles, Birgen Nelson of Gustavus Adolphus ran 8.60 at the Ted Nelson classic. The trio of Moran, Pfadenhauer, and Nelson all enter the D3 top 25 all-time list with their efforts. Pfadenhauer’s 55.95/2:15 speed for the 800m combined with Parker’s recent 4:50 mile effort could mean a fast DMR from the Duhawks.
In the field events, Ben Drummey of Southern Maine cleared 5.12m in pole vault to take the top spot in the nation. Samuel Hetrick of PSU-Behrend jumped a personal best of 2.10m in the high jump to take the second spot nationally. The national leader in the high jump is currently St. John Fisher’s Kyle Rollins, who also took over the No. 3 spot on the descending order list in the men’s triple jump this weekend. In men’s shot put, two more men added tosses over 17 meters to the qualifying list as Carnegie Miller’s Bram Miller and Carthage’s Joseph White threw 17.15m and 17.05m, respectively.
Meghan Matheny of Ithaca defended her top mark in the pole vault by increasing her season-best to 3.94m, quickly approaching the 4-meter mark as the season progresses. Isabel Maletich of UChicago did the same in triple jump with a season’s best of 12.22m. However, Bowdoin’s Lydia Pitt is now sneaking up on Maletich with her weekend leap of 12.19. The field events did not see much change this weekend, but many athletes are no doubt winding up for some colossal marks in the near future.