Wow 364 Days have gone by in 2008 and now its just about time to review all the D3 running happenings of the year, but where do I begin?

Well perhaps January 1st is a good starting point, but unfortunately not a whole lot of D3 action was taking place, other than perhaps a Alum or two taking place in the Emerald Nuts 4-miler in Central Park. Machiria Yuot a multi-time national champion at Widener took second overall in a time of 18.33 on yes, his birthday (January 1 not Dec 31st which is when the race is depending on how you look at it).

But enough about Alums and onto the the 2008 D3 Indoor season, which although started in 2007 really heated up in 2008. While Lincoln University (PA) had left D3 for its return to D2 before the cross country season, its absence was not really felt until the indoor season, especially at the National Championship held at Ohio Northern University. I will go through an event by event recap, talking about results from Nationals and as much as I can remember/find out about the regular season. If I am wrong on anything, I apologize I am doing much of this from my own memory and remember I did not begin writing this article till the XC season. Feel free to add things I missed, or make corrections (tastefully) in the comment section.

I will begin with the Men...

In the 55 meter Dash, Salem State's Eddie Bynum was victorious in one of many close finishes over the weekend winning by .01 seconds over Cortland's Amaan Siddeeq. The two were posting the top times in D3 througout the season, and the battle was not settled till the very end. If anyone has finish line photos, let me know and I would be happy to tag them to the article.

Perhaps Lincoln's absence was most felt in the 400m dash, where in years past the Lions had qualified four individuals and seen most if not all of them reach the finals. However this year's winner was McMurry University Junior (now SR) Hanneus Ollison who was victorious by nearly a 1 full second in a time of 48.61

In the 800 meter run Hamilton's Phenom (and future what's to see in D3 Interviewee, there the surprise is ruined) Peter Kosgei won one of his many D3 titles in 2008 with a winning time of 1:51.97 over Matt Kramer of Wisconsin Superior and Jimmy O'Brien of host Ohio Northern who ran 1:52.70 and 1:52.84

It is not uncommon to see a margin of victory of .01 seconds in the 55 dash or even a slightly longer sprint, but in the Mile it is a little less common, but that is exactly how much Kosgei won by over Paul Zdroik of Wisconsin La Crosse to win a second championship title in 2008. Keene State Freshmen Craig MacPherson was an impressive 3rd in 4:12.85. Kosgei finished in fieldhouse record time of 4:11.17

Now if you do not expect a small margin of victory in the Mile, you really get shocked when it happens in the 5000. Willy Kaul of Wisconsin Oshkosh was victorious in 14:23.43 over Tyler Sigl of Wisconsin Platteville who ran 14:23.44 again .01 seconds difference, and a new fieldhouse record.

In the 55 Hurdles, UMass Dartmouth SR returned after having some struggles his JR year to win in a time of 7.46. Although he had the fastest time in the Prelims, Moravian College SR Bereshford Brown finished third in the final

In the Relays Wisonsin La Crosse defended its 4x400 title in 3:19.67, while Wisconsin Platteville took down the DMR in a sub 10 minute performance of 9:59.71 anchored by 5k runner up Tyler Sigl. 

While Brown did not pick up the win in the hurdles, he did manage to have the weekend's longest mark in the long lump with a leap of 23 feet 11 and 3/4 inches to win the National Championship. Fisk University Sophomore Kamar James won the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 48 feet 9 inches.

Bobby Riley of La Crosse won the Shot Put with a throw of 55-7 a D3 season's best and with a D3 season best throw of 62-1 1/2 Bates College Sr Noah Gauthier took home the weight throw title.

While he may have been only a freshmen, Josh Jones of Thiel College showed that he will be difficult to beat in the High Jump clearing 6 feet 11 inches, over an inch higher than the second place finisher. In the Pole Vualt, Monmouth College (IL) Sr Jonny Henkins, North Central College Sophomore Jake Winder and Loras College Junior Kyle Calvert all cleared 16 feet 9 and 1/2 inches, however Henkins had the least misses and was named the national champion.

As for the Team scores, La Crosse took home the National Championship with 43 points, followed by Monmouth College with 33, and a tie for 3rd between Plattevill and Oshkosh with 21 points. Although no Trophey was received Hamilton College/ Peter Kosgei placed 5th overall with 20 points and one could wonder what would have happened had he raced the 5k as well...you can discuss this below.

Now for the Women...

There is alot more to cover and this is already getting long, so I mean no disrespect to the ladies or the outdoor/xc national champions but I may try to get through this a bit quicker for everyone's sake.

In the 55 meter dash Heidelberg So Judy Bataille posted a D3 season best and a fieldhouse record en route to vicoty in a wicked fast time of 7.00

For the 400 meter dash the winner may not have come as much of a surprise as Illinois Wesleyan Sr Rachel Anderson ran another D3 season best and fieldhouse record of 55.66 to win.

Although Marcia Taddy had not run at all indoors, about a week before Nationals, she posted D3's top times in both the 800 and the mile. However, she did not run either event at Nationals, I can only assume this had to do with eliibility issues, but if anyone has more information on this, I would really appreciate you sharing in the comments, so long that it is not too personal of an issue, in which case I apologize for bringing it up.

Taddy's teammate Jessica Scott of Platteville was the winner in the 800 by nearly 2 seconds running 2:11.84. In the Mile, Bethel So Marie Borner set a fieldhouse record, running 4:58.36. Although she finished in 7th in both races, TCNJ Jr Stephanie Herrick posted the top time in the prelims of both the 800 and the Mile.

It was Jennifer Adams of Keene State over Becca Jordahl in a good battle for 25 laps in the 5000 meters, with a winning time of 16:58.71 (17:02.89 for Jordahl) in another Fieldhouse record. Take a good look at the rest of the names from this race and rememember them for when we get to the xc season.

In the hurdles it was Frostburg State Jr.Sumer Rohrs in a season best and fieldhouse record time of 7.96 over Amy Magnuson of MIT 8.01

Anchored by 400 meter champion Rachel Anderseon, Illinois Wesleyan was victorious over Wartburg in the 4x400, while Tufts set a fieldhouse record in winning the DMR

Caitlin Schetter of La Crosse out leaped the field in the Long Jump, while  Shannon O'Keefe of Brockport won the triple jump by only 3/4 of an inch over Danielle Wadlington of Washington University.

Montclair State freshmen Monique Riddick took the shot title, while St. Thomas Sr Carol Comp won the weight throw.

Crystal Blamy of Keene State cleared a D3 season best of 5-7 3/4 to win the High Jump outright, while Washington University Sr Morgen Leonard-Fleckman and North Central College's Rachel Secrest set a D3 season best and fieldhouse record in the polevault by clearing 12-8, with the title going to Morgen on fewer misses.

As for the team scored, Illinois Wesleyan won with 30 points, followed by wartburg with 27, Washington University with 23 and rounding out the podium was Wisconsin La Crosse and Keene State in a tie for 4th with 21 points.

Now lets go outside, again starting with the Men...

The first Final of the weekend to be contested at Wisconsin Oshkosk, was the Discus where Dan Hytinen of Whitewater through for an NCAA D3 Championship record of 59.87 meters getting the championship started off on the right foot.

next was the Pole Vault, where Jonny Henkins of Monmouth College won outright with a clearance of 16 - 7 1/4.

In the Long Jump, Francis Nugent of the University of the Redlands out leaped the indoor champion by 3/4 on an inch, jumping 7.18 meters.

The first final on the track was the 10,000 meters, won by Tyler Sigl of Platteville, bettering his own stadium record by 20 seconds in a time of 30:34.19

In the High Jump it came down to misses as the top two athletes both cleared 6-11.5 but the indoor champ had more misses and Cody Stezler of Whitworth was declared the champion.

In the Hammer throw, Mark O'Connel of St. Thomas outthrew the field by over a meter with his throw of 58.22 meters.

If you paid attention to the indoor results a bit, it should not come as much of a surprise that Beresford Brown of Moravian was the overall Decathlon Champion. The Sr. scored 7192 points winning 4 of the ten events contested.

Peter Kosgei of Hamilton collected his third National Championship of 2008 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, an event he won the year prior and excelled in throughout the season (see Penn Relays Footage on Flotrack).

The triple jump was won with a jump of 48 - 11 3/4 by Kamar James of Fisk University, James is only a sophomore so we should see more of him in the next two years.

Onto the Javalin, there was actually a tie in distance with two throws of 63.35 meters, correct me if I am wrong but this is rare down to the centimeter to have two identical throws. The Winner was crowned I am assuming because of less fowls and not an extra millimeter or two and that went to Rochester Institute of Technology SR, Stephen Burns.

Looking ahead to the first relay of the weekend, McMurry Univeristity won in 40.54 after reaching the finals by setting a season best and stadium record time of 40.47In the 1500 meter final, Andy Hodge of Wartburg produced a season best time of 3:46.89 also breaking the stadium record. The race saw 5 runners dip under 3:50 for the 3 and 3/4 lap race.

Jarod Renford of Greenville College set a D3 season best of 14.22 also a stadium record in winning the 110 meter high hurdles.

Hanneus Ollison of Mcmurry took home the 400 meter crown in another season and stadium best of 46.40

Dan Gund of Mt. Union put the Shot 17.44 meters to win the shot put by nearly a meter.

Although he came up just short indoors, Amaan Siddeeq of Cortland was D3's fastest man, winning the 100 meter dash in 10.59 into a head wind.

Emmanual Boffa of Whitworth University ran 1:51.01 to win the 800 meter

Sophomore Russel Dill of Tri-State University bested the field in the 400 meter hurdles with a winning time of 51.30 good enough for a stadium record as well.

If the 100 was not enough for him, Siddeeq of Cortland picked up another 10 points for himself and his school by winning the 200 meter dash in a time of 21.29 into a very strong head wind.

Peter Kosgei of Hamilton went back to work in the second to last event of the Championship, winning the 5000 meters and his fourth title of 2008 with a time of 14:32.57

To finish up the championship, the 4x400 relay was won by Steven's Point in a D3 season best time of 3:12.09

As for the team scores, McMurry took home the team title with 35 Points, followed by Cortland with 33, Whitworth with 31 and Mt. Union with 27.

Onto the Ladies...

Holly Rollins of McMurry only a Fr won the Pole vault to start of the championship clearing 12 feet 10 1/4 inches.

In the Long Jump, Natalie Calderon of the Redlands leaped 6.07 meters for the win. 

Dana Thompson threw a season best 49.28 meters to win by roughly a meter and a half in the discus throw.

A battle ensued over 10000 meters between Indoor 5K champion Jennifer Adams of Keene State and Esther Erb of Case Western Reserve with the later winning out by .4 seconds in a time of 35:45.01. One note with this race, it was without Toni Wiszowaty of Plattsbrugh who ran 33:57.46 at the Penn Relays to dip under the Olympic Trials B standard.

In the Hammer Throw Terri Schwamb took home the first win for host Wisconsin Oshkosh with a throw of 58.25 meters.

Crystal Blamy of Keene State went from indoors to outdoors but the result was the same - a national championship in the high jump, clearing 5 feet 7 inches.

Dispite winning only 2 of the 7 events, Amy Reed of Messiah College won the Heptahlon with 5111 total points.

In the 3000 meter steeplechase, 5 ladies dipped under the previous D3 season best, but it was Caitlin Bradley of Dickinson College who was victorious in a time of 10:22.60

In the start of Saturday's action Widener Senior Lauren Lucci won the shot put with the throw of 14.43 meters.

In the 4x100 relay, Texas Lutheran set a D3 season best mark of 46.42 to win.

Despite missing the indoor championships, Marcia Taddy of Platteville returned for outdoors and won the 1500 meters in 4:23.36 setting a season best mark and a stadium record.

With an illegal wind at her back, Sumer Rohrs of Frostburg state won the 100 meter high hurdles in a time of 13.68

In the 400 Rachel Anderson of Illinois Wesleyan kept up her winning ways, taking the outdoor 400 meter crown and a D3 season best and breaking her own stadium record with a time of 54.35

Back to the throws, Lisa Brown, a JR from Gustavus Adolphus threw 53.17 meters to win the Javolin national title

Over to the jumps, Natalie Calderon of the Redlands took another win, this time in the Triple Jump, jumping 12.45 meters

This year's fastest D3 woman was Jodyann Raymond of the City College of New York who ran a wind aided time of 11.84

In the 800 meter run, a good battle ensued between Marcia Taddy and Stephanie Herrick of TCNJ, both running under 2:09, however it was Taddy who would cross the line first, picking up her second title of the championship with a time of 2:08.23

Calvin College Senior Sarah Wittingen won the 400 meter hurdles in a D3 season best and stadium record time of 59.39

Winning the 400 indoors and out was simply not enough for Rachel Anderson as the Illinois Wesleyan picked up her second title of the weekend and fourth of 2008 (indoor 400 and 4x400) by winning the 200 meter dash in 24.76 into a very strong headwind.

The last individual final of the weekend, the 5000 featured a number of ladies who had run other events and it was Becca Jordal of Wisconsin River Falls who was victorious in a time of 16:52.49

The final event of the weekend the women's 4x400 meter relay was won by indoor runner up Wartburg in a time of 3:45.72 a D3 season best.

As for the teams, Wisconsin River Falls and Illinois Wesleyan tied for first place with 35 points a piece, and just 1 point bac in third place with 34 points was Wartburg, followed by Keene State in fourth with 29 points.

As Summer hits, we look to a few D3 alums, such as Nick Symmonds who won the Olympic Trials 800 qualifying for his first Olympic Games. Shauneen Garrahan won the Canadian Olympic Trials Steeplechase, however since she is a US citizen, the Team New Balance runner did not earn a birth to the Olympics. In other perhaps strange news, Andrew Rock formerly of Wisconsin La Crosse and a Gold Medalist from the 2004 Olympic 4x400 meter Relay decided to give a go at the 400 meter hurdles - you can view his first attempt at the event in Flotrack's European coverage season 2.

Moving onto XC, this is alot more resent so I will not go into too much detail especially since 2008 is slowly coming to a close and this is getting really ridiculously long. One thing I will mention is that this article began during the 2008 xc season, and now will head into 2009 for track.

On the Men's side Peter Kosgei took home his 5th title of 2008 winning the xc individual title contested at Hanover College in Indiana. As for the teams Cortland State went wire to wire for the season with the number 1 ranking, winning the national title over North Central College with 80 points. Williams College came in third, followed by Wisconsin Stevens Point, leaving Calvin off the podium for the first time in roughly a decade.

The Women's individual title went to Bethel University SR Marie Borner, as Middlebury took the team title over Calvin with 179 points. Williams College finished third on the women's side as well, followed by Wartburg in fourth.

Thank you for reading and lets look forward to a great year of D3 running in 2009. 

Happy New Year everyone,

Dan