Division 3 Weekly Recap (Apr 8-9, 2011)
Division 3 Weekly Recap (Apr 8-9, 2011)
The outdoor season started gathering steam this past weekend with tons of provisional marks in every mid and long distance event.
The UW-Platteville Invitational played host to a large portion of these top marks as many from the Wisconsin schools kicked off the competitive season. Indoor runner-up Brian Butzler of UW-Whitewater posted the only automatic distance qualifier with his 14:23.77 victory in a loaded 5k. UW-Eau Claire’s Thomas Breitbach led the followers across the line in 14:29.08, and Tim Nelson of UW-Stout continued a remarkable junior year with a 14:33.11 third place finish. Two-time Cross Country All-American Jason Garvens of UW-Platteville rounded out the provisional qualifiers in 14:37.32. The only other provos came from the steeplechase, where Brian Shonat of UW-La Crosse led Jon Stover of Wartburg across the line with times of 9:22.60 and 9:23.60, respectively. Before we move on to the women’s half of the meet, though, it should be noted that freshman Sean Royer of UW-La Crosse ran 1:52.98 to win the 800, so keep an eye out for him as the season progresses.
Speaking of the 800, Ann Tank of UW-Platteville, runner-up indoors, charged to a division-leading 2:10.79, beating indoor fourth-placer Laura Rieger of Loras in the process—though Rieger won’t be too upset with a 2:11.41 this early in the season. In the 1500, recent mile All-American Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh moves to third on the performance lists with a 4:35.50 provisional mark, and UW-Eau Claire’s Ashlyn Mauer trounced the steeplechase field by over thirty seconds with a provisional time of 10:53.18.
The Eastern half of the division tried to match this success, and they put on a pretty good show at the University of Rochester Alumni Meet. Three-time mile/metric mile champ Nick Guarino of Fredonia essentially soloed a 1:49.49 automatic qualifier in the 800, and his twin, Josh, added a provisional mark in the steeple with a 9:17.40 clocking. However, his performance was overshadowed by Brian Lang of host Rochester, who cruised under the nine-minute barrier with an 8:56.76 personal best and automatic qualifier. Equally impressive was the women’s steeplechase, which featured the outdoor debut of four-time national champ Wendy Pavlus of St. Lawrence. Pavlus didn’t disappoint, as she rolled to a 10:31.28 victory and automatic qualifier. Almost 30 seconds behind—yet still coming away with a very strong provisional mark and a solid personal best—was Alyssa Smith of Geneseo St. in 10:57.18.
The only other meet of note on the men’s side was the Miami (OH) Invitational. Jake Waterman of Wabash provided some highlights when he took down a solid field of D1 competition en route to a division-leading 800 time of 1:51.85. Teammate Kavin McCarthy couldn’t quite pull out another victory for his squad, but he did post a 9:16.78 provisional time in the steeple. Calvin took over from there, with Greg Whittle and Alex Wrobel going 1-2 in the second heat of the 1500 with provisional marks of 3:52.90 and 3:53.30, while Nick Kramer got the 5k victory in 14:43.20, a slight improvement over his previous provisional mark.
The women’s events at the Marv Frye Invitational also proved to be exceptional. Kimberly Chinn of Baldwin-Wallace provided what I consider to be the performance of the week with a 10:30.74 automatic mark. The 5k appeared to be a great race between Ohio Wesleyan’s Kaitlin Zimmerly, Case Western’s Justine Jeroski, and Oberlin’s Joanna Johnson. Surprisingly, Johnson, and indoor All-American, faded to third, though she did manage a 17:23.46 clocking, while Zimmerly took home the win in 17:14.12. Jeroski split the two with another personal best, this time crossing the line in 17:21.88, which betters her previous provisional mark by four seconds.
There were many other scattered successes across the nation. On the men’s side, the Mount Union Invitational saw a good duel at 1500 between 2009 national champ Ty Griffin of host Mount Union and the anchor of Allegheny’s champion DMR, Tony Dipre. Griffin prevailed, 3:53.15 to 3:53.35. In the 800, unheralded Matthew Rego of Berry recorded a huge personal best of 1:51.11, while Andrew Wells-Qu of the University of Chicago posted a 1:52.68. Kyle Wood of Central College took over the division lead in the 400 with a time of 47.40. In the steeplechase, Anders Crabo of Pomona-Pitzer showed his prowess with a 9:15.96 victory over Jeremy Kalmous of Redlands, whose 9:19.95 time is also good for a provisional qualifier. 2010 All-American Jack Davies of Middlebury also posted a qualifier in the steeple with a time of 9:21.44. And don’t forget Jackson Brainerd of Colorado College, who clocked in at 3:57.24 for the 1500. That time may seem unspectacular at first glance, but after taking into account the altitude—and the requisite conversion—it is good for second on the performance lists, as it is worth a 3:51.58.
As for the women, there were just as many scattered yet impressive provisional marks. Three of these came in the 800 from a trio of veterans: Franklin and Marshall's Sheena Crawley, Oneonta's Lauren Brunetto, and Augustana's Hannah Hottle. Crawley, 2010 All-American outdoors as a freshman, had the fastest time of the three with a 2:13.40 finish. Two time All-American Brunetto and Hottle—both competitors at indoor nationals—showed some speed as well, with 2:13.94 and 2:14.04 provos. Grayce Selig of Brandeis, runner-up in the indoor mile, showed she hasn’t lost a step with a 4:33.48 victory, defeating mile third-placer Amy Knoblock of Keene State in the process. Whitworth’s Tonya Turner also hit the 1500 provisional standard with a 4:36.59 effort, which goes nicely with her steeple provo. In the longer distances, Simone Child-Walker, third indoors in the 5k, kicked off her outdoor season with a dominating victory in 17:14.16, and Annie Lydens, a sophomore from Pomona-Pitzer, rolled to a 17:23.29 in her first ever track 5k. The 10k also saw some provisional marks this weekend, with Christina Valerio of Johns Hopkins and Cadee Rockwell of Moravian going 36:01.99 and 36:39.33, respectively. Meanwhile, in the steeple, Keene State’s Andrea Walsh, NYU’s Hannah Satzke, and Johns Hopkins’ Elizabeth Lester dipped under the 11:10 provisional standard.
Also, as a quick D3 alumni update, 2010 10k national champ Kyle Brady, a North central alum, finished third at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, losing only to Simon Bairu (former NCAA XC champ) and high school phenom Lukas Verzbicas. Also of note was the fifth place finisher—four-time national champion Tyler Sigl, formerly of UW-Platteville.
And last but not least, this week’s shout-outs go to a pair of pole vaulters. Craig Van Leeuwen of Ramapo, indoor pole vault champ, moved into a tie for 8th on the all-time lists when he cleared 5.26 meters. On the women’s side, Catherine Street improved her personal best to 4.08 meters, but she stays at third all-time.
Good job this week, everybody, and be sure to keep an eye out for some D3 interviews, the first of which should appear on Wednesday.
The UW-Platteville Invitational played host to a large portion of these top marks as many from the Wisconsin schools kicked off the competitive season. Indoor runner-up Brian Butzler of UW-Whitewater posted the only automatic distance qualifier with his 14:23.77 victory in a loaded 5k. UW-Eau Claire’s Thomas Breitbach led the followers across the line in 14:29.08, and Tim Nelson of UW-Stout continued a remarkable junior year with a 14:33.11 third place finish. Two-time Cross Country All-American Jason Garvens of UW-Platteville rounded out the provisional qualifiers in 14:37.32. The only other provos came from the steeplechase, where Brian Shonat of UW-La Crosse led Jon Stover of Wartburg across the line with times of 9:22.60 and 9:23.60, respectively. Before we move on to the women’s half of the meet, though, it should be noted that freshman Sean Royer of UW-La Crosse ran 1:52.98 to win the 800, so keep an eye out for him as the season progresses.
Speaking of the 800, Ann Tank of UW-Platteville, runner-up indoors, charged to a division-leading 2:10.79, beating indoor fourth-placer Laura Rieger of Loras in the process—though Rieger won’t be too upset with a 2:11.41 this early in the season. In the 1500, recent mile All-American Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh moves to third on the performance lists with a 4:35.50 provisional mark, and UW-Eau Claire’s Ashlyn Mauer trounced the steeplechase field by over thirty seconds with a provisional time of 10:53.18.
The Eastern half of the division tried to match this success, and they put on a pretty good show at the University of Rochester Alumni Meet. Three-time mile/metric mile champ Nick Guarino of Fredonia essentially soloed a 1:49.49 automatic qualifier in the 800, and his twin, Josh, added a provisional mark in the steeple with a 9:17.40 clocking. However, his performance was overshadowed by Brian Lang of host Rochester, who cruised under the nine-minute barrier with an 8:56.76 personal best and automatic qualifier. Equally impressive was the women’s steeplechase, which featured the outdoor debut of four-time national champ Wendy Pavlus of St. Lawrence. Pavlus didn’t disappoint, as she rolled to a 10:31.28 victory and automatic qualifier. Almost 30 seconds behind—yet still coming away with a very strong provisional mark and a solid personal best—was Alyssa Smith of Geneseo St. in 10:57.18.
The only other meet of note on the men’s side was the Miami (OH) Invitational. Jake Waterman of Wabash provided some highlights when he took down a solid field of D1 competition en route to a division-leading 800 time of 1:51.85. Teammate Kavin McCarthy couldn’t quite pull out another victory for his squad, but he did post a 9:16.78 provisional time in the steeple. Calvin took over from there, with Greg Whittle and Alex Wrobel going 1-2 in the second heat of the 1500 with provisional marks of 3:52.90 and 3:53.30, while Nick Kramer got the 5k victory in 14:43.20, a slight improvement over his previous provisional mark.
The women’s events at the Marv Frye Invitational also proved to be exceptional. Kimberly Chinn of Baldwin-Wallace provided what I consider to be the performance of the week with a 10:30.74 automatic mark. The 5k appeared to be a great race between Ohio Wesleyan’s Kaitlin Zimmerly, Case Western’s Justine Jeroski, and Oberlin’s Joanna Johnson. Surprisingly, Johnson, and indoor All-American, faded to third, though she did manage a 17:23.46 clocking, while Zimmerly took home the win in 17:14.12. Jeroski split the two with another personal best, this time crossing the line in 17:21.88, which betters her previous provisional mark by four seconds.
There were many other scattered successes across the nation. On the men’s side, the Mount Union Invitational saw a good duel at 1500 between 2009 national champ Ty Griffin of host Mount Union and the anchor of Allegheny’s champion DMR, Tony Dipre. Griffin prevailed, 3:53.15 to 3:53.35. In the 800, unheralded Matthew Rego of Berry recorded a huge personal best of 1:51.11, while Andrew Wells-Qu of the University of Chicago posted a 1:52.68. Kyle Wood of Central College took over the division lead in the 400 with a time of 47.40. In the steeplechase, Anders Crabo of Pomona-Pitzer showed his prowess with a 9:15.96 victory over Jeremy Kalmous of Redlands, whose 9:19.95 time is also good for a provisional qualifier. 2010 All-American Jack Davies of Middlebury also posted a qualifier in the steeple with a time of 9:21.44. And don’t forget Jackson Brainerd of Colorado College, who clocked in at 3:57.24 for the 1500. That time may seem unspectacular at first glance, but after taking into account the altitude—and the requisite conversion—it is good for second on the performance lists, as it is worth a 3:51.58.
As for the women, there were just as many scattered yet impressive provisional marks. Three of these came in the 800 from a trio of veterans: Franklin and Marshall's Sheena Crawley, Oneonta's Lauren Brunetto, and Augustana's Hannah Hottle. Crawley, 2010 All-American outdoors as a freshman, had the fastest time of the three with a 2:13.40 finish. Two time All-American Brunetto and Hottle—both competitors at indoor nationals—showed some speed as well, with 2:13.94 and 2:14.04 provos. Grayce Selig of Brandeis, runner-up in the indoor mile, showed she hasn’t lost a step with a 4:33.48 victory, defeating mile third-placer Amy Knoblock of Keene State in the process. Whitworth’s Tonya Turner also hit the 1500 provisional standard with a 4:36.59 effort, which goes nicely with her steeple provo. In the longer distances, Simone Child-Walker, third indoors in the 5k, kicked off her outdoor season with a dominating victory in 17:14.16, and Annie Lydens, a sophomore from Pomona-Pitzer, rolled to a 17:23.29 in her first ever track 5k. The 10k also saw some provisional marks this weekend, with Christina Valerio of Johns Hopkins and Cadee Rockwell of Moravian going 36:01.99 and 36:39.33, respectively. Meanwhile, in the steeple, Keene State’s Andrea Walsh, NYU’s Hannah Satzke, and Johns Hopkins’ Elizabeth Lester dipped under the 11:10 provisional standard.
Also, as a quick D3 alumni update, 2010 10k national champ Kyle Brady, a North central alum, finished third at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, losing only to Simon Bairu (former NCAA XC champ) and high school phenom Lukas Verzbicas. Also of note was the fifth place finisher—four-time national champion Tyler Sigl, formerly of UW-Platteville.
And last but not least, this week’s shout-outs go to a pair of pole vaulters. Craig Van Leeuwen of Ramapo, indoor pole vault champ, moved into a tie for 8th on the all-time lists when he cleared 5.26 meters. On the women’s side, Catherine Street improved her personal best to 4.08 meters, but she stays at third all-time.
Good job this week, everybody, and be sure to keep an eye out for some D3 interviews, the first of which should appear on Wednesday.