NCAA D3 Indoor Championships 2014Mar 15, 2014 by Scott Rodilitz
NCAA DIII Indoor Championships Day 1 Recap
NCAA DIII Indoor Championships Day 1 Recap
The NCAA Division III Indoor Championships are underway, and the Eagles from UW-La Crosse have already pulled away in the men’s team competition with 40.5 points, giving them a 24.5 point lead.
The rest of the top WIAC teams (Eau Claire, Whitewater, and Oshkosh) have taken care of business, despite some bumps in the road, and currently reside on the predicted podium. Unless something changes drastically on the final day of competition, the only thing that remains is to determine the order of second through fourth.
The Titans from UW-Oshkosh are on their way to repeating as champions of the women’s team competition with 20 points, with a slight lead over Williams (19) and MIT (18). UW-La Crosse, the pre-meet favorite, should make a strong push to contend for the title tomorrow, while Wartburg is projected to finish comfortably in third.
The battle for the final podium spot is on, though, with both Williams and MIT stepping up to challenge UW-Whitewater and Wheaton (Mass). Based on heat results and entry times, the Eagles and Titans will finish neck and neck, followed by Wartburg, and with MIT finishing as a distant fourth. Both top squads have a 4x400 separated by half a second, so be prepared for some late-meet fireworks.
After a total of four distance finals, two meet records have fallen, and more records will surely fall tomorrow. Here’s a quick recap of the distance action so far:
Men’s Mile
The first heat got out in a hurry, but it was Wylie Mangelsdorf of Principia, not top-seeded Coby Horowitz of Bowdoin, who took the pace out hard. He crossed through the halfway mark in 2:04-5 with a good five second lead on the field, but got caught with a little less than a quarter to go. Going into the last lap, Zach Haskins of Bethel (Minn) took a lead that he would not relinquish, running 4:12.43 and eliminating all doubt that he would not be in form after a fifth place finish at his conference meet the week prior. Horowitz would finish second in 4:12.70, just one hundredth ahead of Mangelsdorf and only .14 away from missing the auto-qualifying spots. Though the class of the field, Horowitz could be in trouble in a kicker’s race tomorrow.
The second heat stayed bunched throughout, and the traffic caused Will Cross of Elmhurst to go down a little over halfway through the race. After hitting 1200 in 3:13, hometown favorite Brock Taute of Nebraska Wesleyan made a bid to steal a slot in the finals. His valiant effort helped the field secure three of the four time qualifiers, but he struggled home in the last 100 and finished in twelfth overall with a time of 4:15.54. Austin O’Brien of Central College emerged from the pack in the home stretch to win in 4:12.91, while the next five finishers all were within 0.41 seconds. Jaime Norton of Tufts, the second seed in the event, finished fifth in the heat and qualified based off his time of 4:13.63, while overall third seed Ryan Widzgowski of Keene State ran 4:13.35 and took the third and final auto qualifying spot by only .01 seconds.
Clearly Haskins and O’Brien are looking to shake up this final, but Horowitz, Widzgowski, and Mangelsdorf should still be considered the guys to beat.
Women’s Mile
Top seeded Tricia Serres of Luther took control of the first heat from the gun and would not give up the lead until she was certain to qualify for the finals. After a 2:31 opening half, she slowly ratcheted down the pace to the finish line, which she hit in 4:56.16. Katie McMenamin of Swarthmore showed her 2:13 speed over the last 600 as she came from near the back to win the heat in 4:56.11. The fourth seed, Grace Tilton of RPI faded in the last lap to finish fifth in 4:57.20 after running in the top three for most of the race. She did make the finals as a time qualifier, which is especially good given that she had scratched from the 3k.
The second heat went off at a similar pace but slowed in the third quarter to 3:48. Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh looked as good as ever as she cruised to victory in 4:57.05, while third seed Cara Deangelis struggled in the kicker’s race and just missed qualifying based on time with a 4:59.33, though she will be back tomorrow in the 3k. Sarah Burnell of Grinnell lost for the first time this season, but should be quite pleased after greatly outdoing her seed with her time of 4:57.25 and second place finish.
The final is shaping up to be a great duel between Cazzola and Serres, while third through eighth seem up for grabs. Veterans Brianne Mirecki of Williams and Louise van den Huevel of MIT will be hoping to pick up some important points for their respective squads, while sophomores McMenamin and Brianna Hickey of the University of Chicago will be looking to establish themselves on the national scene.
Men’s 800m
Adam Moline of UW-Eau Claire took the first heat out in 54 in the hopes of securing a surprise trip to the finals and some extra points for the Blugolds. At the bell, fifth seeded Jacob Ellis of Bowdoin took over and held off top seeded Mitchell Black of Tufts, to claim victory in 1:52.01. Black, who finished in a time of 1:52.20, was clearly happy to coast in and punch his ticket to the final. As a harsh reward for his early effort, Moline was edged out by mile finalist Ryan Widzgowski for the final time qualifying slot, 1:52.47 to 1:52.62.
The second heat also went mostly true to form after a 54-55 second opening quarter, with second seeded McKena Ramos of UW-Oshkosh looking smooth as he and third seeded Andrew Carey of Johns Hopkins cruised to the finish. Ramos’s teammate, Brett DeNure, was the biggest casualty of the field, while Michael Harnish of Lebanon Valley made the final despite being the fifteenth and final seed.
As expected, the final should be a fight between Black and Ramos, with Carey and Ellis hoping to play spoiler.
Women’s 800
The first heat went off without a hitch, as the top two seeds in the race, Kylee Verhasselt of UW-Oshkosh and Maggie Shelton of Johns Hopkins took the top two places in quick times of 2:10.73 and 2:10.77. Ashley West of Susquehanna led through 400 in 64 and snuck in as the final time qualifier in 2:12.72.
The second heat got going in a hurry as top seeded Gabriella Gaudreault of Springfield followed her general fast-starting race plan. After a 29 second opening 200, she slowed to a 62 second quarter and then eased off the third 200. When the time came to make her final move, however, the wheels weren’t quite there as she faded to third in her heat in 2:12.34 and had to settle for a time qualification into the final. Taylor Moore of Wartburg and Trisha King of Trine got by in the final lap to take the two auto qualifying slots in 2:11.91 and 2:12.26.
The top six seeds all advanced, but top seeded Gaudreault looked vulnerable. Will Verhasselt or Shelton have enough after doubling in the DMR?
Men’s 5000
The man with the best mile time in the field, Michael LeDuc of Conn College, surprisingly wasted no time in taking the lead, going through 400 in 65 before settling to a 4:34 first mile. The strung-out pack followed as LeDuc slowed slightly through two miles, covered in 9:14, before John Crain of North Central took over with 8 laps remaining. Only LeDuc, top seeded Tim Hartung of York, and sophomore Ian LaMere of UW-Platteville covered the move, and all three would pay for it by the end, as Crain was simply spectacular. Cross country champion LeDuc faltered first, then LaMere, and finally Hartung as Crain covered the final mile in 4:18 to finish in 14:06.73.
Ryan Steinbock of Dickinson ran a smart race and took advantage of the toll the quick early pace had as he ran down Hartung in the final straight to close in 14:19.30.
Sean Kutz of UW-Oshkosh scored some valuable points for his team with his fourth place finish of 14:21.13, only .04 seconds behind a fading Hartung.
LeMere and LeDuc would end up in sixth and seventh in 14:21.87 and 14:23.92, very quick times given their final placing.
As incredible as Crain’s race was, North Central’s joy was slightly tempered as their four other competitors all finished outside of All-American honors, leaving them likely out of contention for a podium finish.
Women's 5000
Like the men’s race, this one got off to a blistering start as Amy Regan of Stevens Institute took the race out in an unsustainable 76 and 2:34 for the first half. Regan, top seeded Lenore Moreno of La Verne, and last year’s runner-up Nicole Michmerhuizen of Calvin were already clear of the field before that first half mile. Despite the blistering opening pace, Moreno felt it wasn’t fast enough and took over 1200 meters in. After 2k, Moreno was still on pace to break 16:00 and she had a five second lead over Michmerhuizen and a 13 second lead over the main pack.
Incredibly, Moreno’s 3k split would place her in the top ten on the 3k start lists for tomorrow’s final.
Though she would slow, her lead would never shrink as she cruised to a victory and a meet record 16:32.85.
Michmerhuizen ran another incredible, mostly solo effort only to finish second in 16:41.25, while Amy Cymerman of St. Lawrence ran patiently with the chase pack before moving up to claim third in 16:47.21.
Regan would ultimately finish fifth, as the top six women all set personal bests.
Cross country national champion Chelsea Johnson of St. Scholastica was a non-factor, finishing seventh in 17:05.54.
Men's Distance Medley Relay
Always a crazy and exciting race, this rendition did not disappoint. Amherst took the lead and then slowed down, coming through the 800 in only 2:05. Dan Sullivan of UW-Stevens Point, last year’s mile and 1500 champion, then took over the 1200 lead, before handing in 3:01 with a convincing two-second lead over Charlie Marquardt of Haverford and Austin O’Brian of Central.
Stevens Point and Central would pull away over the course of the next two legs before Central anchor Eli Horton got the baton slightly in the lead over his Stevens Point adversary.
At little over two seconds, the rest of the anchors were receiving the baton, with Haverford, North Central, and Amherst occupying the next three places and top-seeded UW-Oshkosh well behind. Horton began to pull away with a 2:01 opening 800, while the rest of the field gave chase Noah Graboys of Bates and Alex Ngabo of Buffalo State made early pushes to close the gap to the leaders, while Dawson Miller of UW-Whitewater, Jacob Peterson of UW-La Crosse, and Ramos of UW-Oshkosh took a more patient approach.
With 500 to go, Horton had gotten away and would lead Central to a national title and new meet record of 9:54.08.
Behind them, the chase pack of Haverford, Amherst, and Bates finally had caught up to Stevens Point anchor Dennis Haak, while North Central had faded with Matt Muth on the anchor instead of Crain. With two laps to go, Miller made a strong move past most of those teams to put his Warhawks into contention for second place, but Chris Stadler of Haverford was able to hold him off, 9:57.70 to 9:57.87.
Peterson and a fast-closing Ramos would take fourth and fifth for the Eagles and Titans, respectively, with all of the top five teams finishing under the old meet record.
Bates, Stevens Point, and North Central would close out the All-American places after some shuffling in the final turn sent tenth-seeded Amherst home empty handed despite a valiant effort. Many of the top anchors turned in times in the 4:08 range.
Women's Distance Medley Relay
The nightcap proved to be quite a thriller, as a bunched up 1200 leg with Kylee Verhasselt of UW-Oshkosh and Alyssa Luker of UW-La Crosse in the lead turned into a fairly large breakaway group of UW-Oshkosh, UW-Lacrosse, MIT, Wartburg, and Emory after some solid 400 running.
Though the top group would not change until the mile leg, strong 800 legs from Annie Shelton and Sarah Fusco brought Johns Hopkins and Bates up to within four seconds of that lead group of five.
UW-Oshkosh anchor Chirsty Cazzola slowed the pace of the front group down, allowing Bates and Johns Hopkins to catch up, before ratcheting it down in the final lap to win handily in 11:39.94.
Maryann Gong of MIT held on for second in 11:42.28, while Laura Mead of UW-La Crosse got third in 11:42.50 to pick up some important points for the Eagles.
Johns Hopkins and Bates took fourth and fifth, while strong anchor legs from Kaleigh Kenny of Williams (4:53) and Erzsie Nagy of Middlebury (4:51) earned their squads sixth and seventh with all four of these squads finishing between 11:44.52 and 11:44.95. Wartburg faded, but managed to hang on to the eighth and final All-American position.
The rest of the top WIAC teams (Eau Claire, Whitewater, and Oshkosh) have taken care of business, despite some bumps in the road, and currently reside on the predicted podium. Unless something changes drastically on the final day of competition, the only thing that remains is to determine the order of second through fourth.
The Titans from UW-Oshkosh are on their way to repeating as champions of the women’s team competition with 20 points, with a slight lead over Williams (19) and MIT (18). UW-La Crosse, the pre-meet favorite, should make a strong push to contend for the title tomorrow, while Wartburg is projected to finish comfortably in third.
The battle for the final podium spot is on, though, with both Williams and MIT stepping up to challenge UW-Whitewater and Wheaton (Mass). Based on heat results and entry times, the Eagles and Titans will finish neck and neck, followed by Wartburg, and with MIT finishing as a distant fourth. Both top squads have a 4x400 separated by half a second, so be prepared for some late-meet fireworks.
After a total of four distance finals, two meet records have fallen, and more records will surely fall tomorrow. Here’s a quick recap of the distance action so far:
Men’s Mile
The first heat got out in a hurry, but it was Wylie Mangelsdorf of Principia, not top-seeded Coby Horowitz of Bowdoin, who took the pace out hard. He crossed through the halfway mark in 2:04-5 with a good five second lead on the field, but got caught with a little less than a quarter to go. Going into the last lap, Zach Haskins of Bethel (Minn) took a lead that he would not relinquish, running 4:12.43 and eliminating all doubt that he would not be in form after a fifth place finish at his conference meet the week prior. Horowitz would finish second in 4:12.70, just one hundredth ahead of Mangelsdorf and only .14 away from missing the auto-qualifying spots. Though the class of the field, Horowitz could be in trouble in a kicker’s race tomorrow.
The second heat stayed bunched throughout, and the traffic caused Will Cross of Elmhurst to go down a little over halfway through the race. After hitting 1200 in 3:13, hometown favorite Brock Taute of Nebraska Wesleyan made a bid to steal a slot in the finals. His valiant effort helped the field secure three of the four time qualifiers, but he struggled home in the last 100 and finished in twelfth overall with a time of 4:15.54. Austin O’Brien of Central College emerged from the pack in the home stretch to win in 4:12.91, while the next five finishers all were within 0.41 seconds. Jaime Norton of Tufts, the second seed in the event, finished fifth in the heat and qualified based off his time of 4:13.63, while overall third seed Ryan Widzgowski of Keene State ran 4:13.35 and took the third and final auto qualifying spot by only .01 seconds.
Clearly Haskins and O’Brien are looking to shake up this final, but Horowitz, Widzgowski, and Mangelsdorf should still be considered the guys to beat.
Women’s Mile
Top seeded Tricia Serres of Luther took control of the first heat from the gun and would not give up the lead until she was certain to qualify for the finals. After a 2:31 opening half, she slowly ratcheted down the pace to the finish line, which she hit in 4:56.16. Katie McMenamin of Swarthmore showed her 2:13 speed over the last 600 as she came from near the back to win the heat in 4:56.11. The fourth seed, Grace Tilton of RPI faded in the last lap to finish fifth in 4:57.20 after running in the top three for most of the race. She did make the finals as a time qualifier, which is especially good given that she had scratched from the 3k.
The second heat went off at a similar pace but slowed in the third quarter to 3:48. Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh looked as good as ever as she cruised to victory in 4:57.05, while third seed Cara Deangelis struggled in the kicker’s race and just missed qualifying based on time with a 4:59.33, though she will be back tomorrow in the 3k. Sarah Burnell of Grinnell lost for the first time this season, but should be quite pleased after greatly outdoing her seed with her time of 4:57.25 and second place finish.
The final is shaping up to be a great duel between Cazzola and Serres, while third through eighth seem up for grabs. Veterans Brianne Mirecki of Williams and Louise van den Huevel of MIT will be hoping to pick up some important points for their respective squads, while sophomores McMenamin and Brianna Hickey of the University of Chicago will be looking to establish themselves on the national scene.
Men’s 800m
Adam Moline of UW-Eau Claire took the first heat out in 54 in the hopes of securing a surprise trip to the finals and some extra points for the Blugolds. At the bell, fifth seeded Jacob Ellis of Bowdoin took over and held off top seeded Mitchell Black of Tufts, to claim victory in 1:52.01. Black, who finished in a time of 1:52.20, was clearly happy to coast in and punch his ticket to the final. As a harsh reward for his early effort, Moline was edged out by mile finalist Ryan Widzgowski for the final time qualifying slot, 1:52.47 to 1:52.62.
The second heat also went mostly true to form after a 54-55 second opening quarter, with second seeded McKena Ramos of UW-Oshkosh looking smooth as he and third seeded Andrew Carey of Johns Hopkins cruised to the finish. Ramos’s teammate, Brett DeNure, was the biggest casualty of the field, while Michael Harnish of Lebanon Valley made the final despite being the fifteenth and final seed.
As expected, the final should be a fight between Black and Ramos, with Carey and Ellis hoping to play spoiler.
Women’s 800
The first heat went off without a hitch, as the top two seeds in the race, Kylee Verhasselt of UW-Oshkosh and Maggie Shelton of Johns Hopkins took the top two places in quick times of 2:10.73 and 2:10.77. Ashley West of Susquehanna led through 400 in 64 and snuck in as the final time qualifier in 2:12.72.
The second heat got going in a hurry as top seeded Gabriella Gaudreault of Springfield followed her general fast-starting race plan. After a 29 second opening 200, she slowed to a 62 second quarter and then eased off the third 200. When the time came to make her final move, however, the wheels weren’t quite there as she faded to third in her heat in 2:12.34 and had to settle for a time qualification into the final. Taylor Moore of Wartburg and Trisha King of Trine got by in the final lap to take the two auto qualifying slots in 2:11.91 and 2:12.26.
The top six seeds all advanced, but top seeded Gaudreault looked vulnerable. Will Verhasselt or Shelton have enough after doubling in the DMR?
Men’s 5000
The man with the best mile time in the field, Michael LeDuc of Conn College, surprisingly wasted no time in taking the lead, going through 400 in 65 before settling to a 4:34 first mile. The strung-out pack followed as LeDuc slowed slightly through two miles, covered in 9:14, before John Crain of North Central took over with 8 laps remaining. Only LeDuc, top seeded Tim Hartung of York, and sophomore Ian LaMere of UW-Platteville covered the move, and all three would pay for it by the end, as Crain was simply spectacular. Cross country champion LeDuc faltered first, then LaMere, and finally Hartung as Crain covered the final mile in 4:18 to finish in 14:06.73.
Ryan Steinbock of Dickinson ran a smart race and took advantage of the toll the quick early pace had as he ran down Hartung in the final straight to close in 14:19.30.
Sean Kutz of UW-Oshkosh scored some valuable points for his team with his fourth place finish of 14:21.13, only .04 seconds behind a fading Hartung.
LeMere and LeDuc would end up in sixth and seventh in 14:21.87 and 14:23.92, very quick times given their final placing.
As incredible as Crain’s race was, North Central’s joy was slightly tempered as their four other competitors all finished outside of All-American honors, leaving them likely out of contention for a podium finish.
Women's 5000
Like the men’s race, this one got off to a blistering start as Amy Regan of Stevens Institute took the race out in an unsustainable 76 and 2:34 for the first half. Regan, top seeded Lenore Moreno of La Verne, and last year’s runner-up Nicole Michmerhuizen of Calvin were already clear of the field before that first half mile. Despite the blistering opening pace, Moreno felt it wasn’t fast enough and took over 1200 meters in. After 2k, Moreno was still on pace to break 16:00 and she had a five second lead over Michmerhuizen and a 13 second lead over the main pack.
Incredibly, Moreno’s 3k split would place her in the top ten on the 3k start lists for tomorrow’s final.
Though she would slow, her lead would never shrink as she cruised to a victory and a meet record 16:32.85.
Michmerhuizen ran another incredible, mostly solo effort only to finish second in 16:41.25, while Amy Cymerman of St. Lawrence ran patiently with the chase pack before moving up to claim third in 16:47.21.
Regan would ultimately finish fifth, as the top six women all set personal bests.
Cross country national champion Chelsea Johnson of St. Scholastica was a non-factor, finishing seventh in 17:05.54.
Men's Distance Medley Relay
Always a crazy and exciting race, this rendition did not disappoint. Amherst took the lead and then slowed down, coming through the 800 in only 2:05. Dan Sullivan of UW-Stevens Point, last year’s mile and 1500 champion, then took over the 1200 lead, before handing in 3:01 with a convincing two-second lead over Charlie Marquardt of Haverford and Austin O’Brian of Central.
Stevens Point and Central would pull away over the course of the next two legs before Central anchor Eli Horton got the baton slightly in the lead over his Stevens Point adversary.
At little over two seconds, the rest of the anchors were receiving the baton, with Haverford, North Central, and Amherst occupying the next three places and top-seeded UW-Oshkosh well behind. Horton began to pull away with a 2:01 opening 800, while the rest of the field gave chase Noah Graboys of Bates and Alex Ngabo of Buffalo State made early pushes to close the gap to the leaders, while Dawson Miller of UW-Whitewater, Jacob Peterson of UW-La Crosse, and Ramos of UW-Oshkosh took a more patient approach.
With 500 to go, Horton had gotten away and would lead Central to a national title and new meet record of 9:54.08.
Behind them, the chase pack of Haverford, Amherst, and Bates finally had caught up to Stevens Point anchor Dennis Haak, while North Central had faded with Matt Muth on the anchor instead of Crain. With two laps to go, Miller made a strong move past most of those teams to put his Warhawks into contention for second place, but Chris Stadler of Haverford was able to hold him off, 9:57.70 to 9:57.87.
Peterson and a fast-closing Ramos would take fourth and fifth for the Eagles and Titans, respectively, with all of the top five teams finishing under the old meet record.
Bates, Stevens Point, and North Central would close out the All-American places after some shuffling in the final turn sent tenth-seeded Amherst home empty handed despite a valiant effort. Many of the top anchors turned in times in the 4:08 range.
Women's Distance Medley Relay
The nightcap proved to be quite a thriller, as a bunched up 1200 leg with Kylee Verhasselt of UW-Oshkosh and Alyssa Luker of UW-La Crosse in the lead turned into a fairly large breakaway group of UW-Oshkosh, UW-Lacrosse, MIT, Wartburg, and Emory after some solid 400 running.
Though the top group would not change until the mile leg, strong 800 legs from Annie Shelton and Sarah Fusco brought Johns Hopkins and Bates up to within four seconds of that lead group of five.
UW-Oshkosh anchor Chirsty Cazzola slowed the pace of the front group down, allowing Bates and Johns Hopkins to catch up, before ratcheting it down in the final lap to win handily in 11:39.94.
Maryann Gong of MIT held on for second in 11:42.28, while Laura Mead of UW-La Crosse got third in 11:42.50 to pick up some important points for the Eagles.
Johns Hopkins and Bates took fourth and fifth, while strong anchor legs from Kaleigh Kenny of Williams (4:53) and Erzsie Nagy of Middlebury (4:51) earned their squads sixth and seventh with all four of these squads finishing between 11:44.52 and 11:44.95. Wartburg faded, but managed to hang on to the eighth and final All-American position.
Related Content
Replay: NMAA Outdoor Champs | 4A-5A Field Events - 2024 NMAA Outdoor Champs | 4A-5A | May 18 @ 8 AMMay 18, 2024
Replay: CHSAA Outdoor Champs - Field - 2024 CHSAA Outdoor Champs | May 18 @ 8 AMMay 18, 2024
Olympic Standards, U.S. Trials Marks And More From The LA Grand PrixMay 18, 2024
American Heritage's Boys Clock 39.39, Secure Florida History In 4x100May 18, 2024
American Heritage Boys Post 39.39, First Under 40 In 4x100 In Florida HistoryMay 18, 2024
Replay: OSAA Outdoor Championships - Track - 2024 OSAA Outdoor Champs | May 17 @ 7 PMMay 18, 2024
Replay: OSAA Outdoor Championships - Filed - 2024 OSAA Outdoor Champs | May 17 @ 5 PMMay 18, 2024
Replay: FHSAA Outdoor Champs | May 17 @ 4 PMMay 18, 2024
Replay: NCHSAA Outdoor Champs | May 17 @ 10 AMMay 18, 2024