D3 Weekly Recap (Apr 1-2)
D3 Weekly Recap (Apr 1-2)
The D3 outdoor season heated up this past weekend, though the weather still has not for most of the country. Yet despite some less-than-ideal conditions, athletes across the nation put up some solid times for this early in the season.
The Sam Howell Memorial Invitational, more than any other meet, proved to be a perfect storm of spectacular times in unspectacular conditions: 45 degrees with rain and wind. The men’s steeplechase set the tone for the rest of the meet, with Dickinson’s Kent Pecora rolling to a division-leading, automatic qualifying time of 9:01.13, finishing third—right behind sensational high school sophomore Edward Cheserek. In the 1500, Haverford’s Tim Schoch hit the first middle-distance auto mark of this outdoor season by getting the win over some D1 competition in 3:49.35. Mike Heymann of Plattsburgh St., owner of the fastest indoor 5k time this past season, took the outdoor division lead with a 14:30.05 clocking, and finally, in the 10k, Sebastian Schwelm of NYU took home the victory and an auto mark in 30:07.75 with Haverford’s cross country champion, Anders Hulleberg, not far behind in 30:17.26. Five other runners hit 10k provisional marks, including two more from Haverford. The women’s half of the meet produced far fewer top marks, with Kaitlin Zimmerly of Ohio Wesleyan posting the only provisional mark with her steeple time of 11:00.56.
Though the NCC First Chance Meet didn’t have quite the same volume of top times, the host Cardinals certainly made up for that in terms of quality, especially in the 10k. North Central’s Mike Spain, 5k indoor champ, asserted his dominance in the distance events by running 29:37.82, with only alum and 2010 national 10k champ Kyle Brady for company. In the women’s 10k, indoor All-American Amanda Laesch also posted an automatic qualifier of 35:41.35. Impressively, Laesch returned on Saturday to add a 5k provisional of 17:33.05, though her ability to double should not be all that surprising—she swept the league titles in the mile, 3k, and 5k during the indoor season. North Central also had a pair of qualifiers in the 400 with indoor runner-up Dan Benton dipping under 48 by one hundredth of a second and Sheila Walsh clocking in at 57.10.
The Washington University Invitational produced a pair of division-leading 800 marks as well as a myriad of other provisional times. Principia’s Drew Clark, indoor All-American in the 800, broke the tape in 1:52.68 and established himself as the first male 800 qualifier outdoors. Meanwhile, Sandy Henin of Rhodes notched a solid personal best in 2:12.28 and certainly appears to have returned to the form that brought her to nationals in 2009. In the women’s 5k, Heather Waterman of Franklin hit the provisional mark with a time of 17:25.55, and in the men’s 10k, Wash U’s David Spandorfer led teammates Michael Burnstein and Tucker Hartley to provisional marks with his 30:10.47 clocking. Finally, the steeplechase saw two more provos when Alden Black of Wash U and Mary Kate Beyer of Monmouth crossed the line in 9:19.57 and 11:02.95, respectively.
The last meet of note this weekend comes from Oregon, at the Willamette Invitational. Kimber Mattox of host Willamette, already the owner of the second-best steeple time in the nation, rolled to a division-leading 17:10.28 in the 5k. Leo Castillo, also from the host’s squad, hit the 10k provisional mark in 30:38.01. Last but not least, Tonya Turner of Whitworth cut almost 20 seconds off her seasonal best in the steeple with her 10:48.99 mark, good for third on the performance lists.
Other results of note include a pair of provisional marks in the 1500 from Jack Diecher of Hamline and steeple star Toocoa Kahovec of Cal Luthren in times of 3:52.57 and 4:37.39, respectively. Marisa Liberati of Geneseo secured a solid personal best in the 5k with a 17:11.15 provisional mark—good for second in the division—while Laura Sigmund of Wartburg posted a big personal best of 17:27.66. Also in the distance events, Kate Leugers of Ithaca notched a 10k provo of 37:14.19 and Nick Kramer of Calvin added a 9:10.32 steeple provo to his 5k mark, placing him third on the performance lists. In the shorter distances, Marcus Fortugno of La Verne bettered his previous auto qualifier in the 400 by a slight margin and brought another sprinter, this time Andy Green of Redlands, to a solid provisional mark with times of 47.47 and 47.80. Four women also put up provisional times this weekend, with Ruby Blackwell of Methodist leading the charge in 56.57, placing her second on the performance lists. In the 400 hurdles, Terry Smith of McMurry and Logan Hohl of Monmouth both dipped under the auto qualifier of 52.65 to take the top two spots on the all-important lists, while Brittany Melloy of Wartburg posted the fastest women’s time on the weekend with a 1:02.54 provisional mark.
Though Mike Spain was dangerously close, the only top ten all-time mark this weekend comes from Linfield’s Catherine Street in the Pole Vault, who cleared 4.05 meters to move up to third on the all-time list. And again, if there are any results that I missed, I’ll be sure to add them in as soon as I become aware of them. Good luck next week everyone—competition looks to be heating up!
The Sam Howell Memorial Invitational, more than any other meet, proved to be a perfect storm of spectacular times in unspectacular conditions: 45 degrees with rain and wind. The men’s steeplechase set the tone for the rest of the meet, with Dickinson’s Kent Pecora rolling to a division-leading, automatic qualifying time of 9:01.13, finishing third—right behind sensational high school sophomore Edward Cheserek. In the 1500, Haverford’s Tim Schoch hit the first middle-distance auto mark of this outdoor season by getting the win over some D1 competition in 3:49.35. Mike Heymann of Plattsburgh St., owner of the fastest indoor 5k time this past season, took the outdoor division lead with a 14:30.05 clocking, and finally, in the 10k, Sebastian Schwelm of NYU took home the victory and an auto mark in 30:07.75 with Haverford’s cross country champion, Anders Hulleberg, not far behind in 30:17.26. Five other runners hit 10k provisional marks, including two more from Haverford. The women’s half of the meet produced far fewer top marks, with Kaitlin Zimmerly of Ohio Wesleyan posting the only provisional mark with her steeple time of 11:00.56.
Though the NCC First Chance Meet didn’t have quite the same volume of top times, the host Cardinals certainly made up for that in terms of quality, especially in the 10k. North Central’s Mike Spain, 5k indoor champ, asserted his dominance in the distance events by running 29:37.82, with only alum and 2010 national 10k champ Kyle Brady for company. In the women’s 10k, indoor All-American Amanda Laesch also posted an automatic qualifier of 35:41.35. Impressively, Laesch returned on Saturday to add a 5k provisional of 17:33.05, though her ability to double should not be all that surprising—she swept the league titles in the mile, 3k, and 5k during the indoor season. North Central also had a pair of qualifiers in the 400 with indoor runner-up Dan Benton dipping under 48 by one hundredth of a second and Sheila Walsh clocking in at 57.10.
The Washington University Invitational produced a pair of division-leading 800 marks as well as a myriad of other provisional times. Principia’s Drew Clark, indoor All-American in the 800, broke the tape in 1:52.68 and established himself as the first male 800 qualifier outdoors. Meanwhile, Sandy Henin of Rhodes notched a solid personal best in 2:12.28 and certainly appears to have returned to the form that brought her to nationals in 2009. In the women’s 5k, Heather Waterman of Franklin hit the provisional mark with a time of 17:25.55, and in the men’s 10k, Wash U’s David Spandorfer led teammates Michael Burnstein and Tucker Hartley to provisional marks with his 30:10.47 clocking. Finally, the steeplechase saw two more provos when Alden Black of Wash U and Mary Kate Beyer of Monmouth crossed the line in 9:19.57 and 11:02.95, respectively.
The last meet of note this weekend comes from Oregon, at the Willamette Invitational. Kimber Mattox of host Willamette, already the owner of the second-best steeple time in the nation, rolled to a division-leading 17:10.28 in the 5k. Leo Castillo, also from the host’s squad, hit the 10k provisional mark in 30:38.01. Last but not least, Tonya Turner of Whitworth cut almost 20 seconds off her seasonal best in the steeple with her 10:48.99 mark, good for third on the performance lists.
Other results of note include a pair of provisional marks in the 1500 from Jack Diecher of Hamline and steeple star Toocoa Kahovec of Cal Luthren in times of 3:52.57 and 4:37.39, respectively. Marisa Liberati of Geneseo secured a solid personal best in the 5k with a 17:11.15 provisional mark—good for second in the division—while Laura Sigmund of Wartburg posted a big personal best of 17:27.66. Also in the distance events, Kate Leugers of Ithaca notched a 10k provo of 37:14.19 and Nick Kramer of Calvin added a 9:10.32 steeple provo to his 5k mark, placing him third on the performance lists. In the shorter distances, Marcus Fortugno of La Verne bettered his previous auto qualifier in the 400 by a slight margin and brought another sprinter, this time Andy Green of Redlands, to a solid provisional mark with times of 47.47 and 47.80. Four women also put up provisional times this weekend, with Ruby Blackwell of Methodist leading the charge in 56.57, placing her second on the performance lists. In the 400 hurdles, Terry Smith of McMurry and Logan Hohl of Monmouth both dipped under the auto qualifier of 52.65 to take the top two spots on the all-important lists, while Brittany Melloy of Wartburg posted the fastest women’s time on the weekend with a 1:02.54 provisional mark.
Though Mike Spain was dangerously close, the only top ten all-time mark this weekend comes from Linfield’s Catherine Street in the Pole Vault, who cleared 4.05 meters to move up to third on the all-time list. And again, if there are any results that I missed, I’ll be sure to add them in as soon as I become aware of them. Good luck next week everyone—competition looks to be heating up!