Ah, club running, how I've missed thee.
I finally had the chance this weekend to sit down and sift through the results of the NIRCA National Track Championship. Hell, I don't even know if "sift" is the proper verb anymore; in this newsletter's dormant years, the National Club Running Database has gone from a cool idea someone DM'd me about to an unbelievable helpful, user-friendly club-TFRRS. If you sign up as a donor (as I have done, and you should too), you even get to claim yourself. Look ma, I'm on the NCRD!
Nats was two weeks ago, but hey—better late than never! As my NCRD times attest, I like to work at my own pace.
Here are a few of the things that caught my eye:
1. Oliwia Wawrzyniak winning the 5000m by a full 44 seconds
A 16:08 5k? Pretty cool. A national title? Extremely cool. A national title won FORTYFOUR SECONDS ahead of second place? Well damn!
The third heat of the women's 5000m produced the top finishers of the day, including great runs and PRs from Lauren Rutlin (Tennessee) and Analeise Shact (Michigan, club record). But Oliwia Wawrzyniak (Tennessee) wasn't taking any chances. Clocking a blazing 16:08 to Shact's 16:52, Wawrzyniak cruised her way into an uncontested NIRCA title. You gotta love it when a big swing pays off.
Aside from Wawrzyniak's mic-drop of a run, the women's 5000m results are rife with personal and club records. I don't know about you, but I'm already looking forward to watching some XC this fall!
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| photo courtesy of Jonathan Karr, NCRD |
2. Grill's got hops!
Edward Grill (Penn State), apparently not content simply with winning, set club, meet, and championship records in the jumps both long and high. Leaping 7.04m out and 2.06m up (not to mention over), I think it's fair to say the guy can jump. Add in his silver medal in the triple jump (13.87m) and it becomes undeniable.
Grill only just fell short in the triple (literally), but considering it was won in a wildly impressive club/meet record by Daniel Nyamollo (Buffalo), who could blame him?
3. All ten top finishers in men's 1500m go sub-4
More than any one performance in the men's 1500m (though there were plenty of great ones), I was just shocked to see how many runners snuck under 4. Led by Purdue sophomore Jack Graham's new meet record of 3:52.03, the whole top 10 would finish in sub-4. And get this: The top FIFTEEN would go sub-4:01.
Ten runners—two from Purdue, two from Virginia Tech, and one each from Missouri, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Florida, Michigan, and Delaware—ran under four minutes. The top nine set PRs. Of the eight clubs I just listed, six came away with new club records. The kids is fast, folks.
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| they lit that track up like a christmas tree, good lord. |
Back in my day (2022), Nick Wolk (Pitt) won in 3:54, with only Wisco's Max Hartke on his heels. Aidan McCarthy, Hokie halfmiler, took third in 4-flat. This signifies two things:
1) NIRCA, like the rest of distance running, has had an unbelievable jump in performance times these past few years.
2) I can now unsarcastically talk about "back in my day." I hate it here.
4. VCU's on the come-up! Go Rams!
Living in Richmond and running around the VCU area as much as I do, I've always had a real affection for VCU's club team. They've been relatively low-key for the last few years, so I was absolutely stoked to see them popping up in these Nats results. The Rams had four men under 4:30 in the 1500m and a 10:18 club record in the steeplechase, not to mention some great jumps and relay splits.
VCU, if you need a wise old man to slow down your easy runs, I think I know just the guy.
5. The women's sprints remain absolutely bonkers
As is probably crystal-clear to all my short-distance readers: I don't fully understand sprints (or at least sprint times) the way I do distance running. I'm a distance guy, and though I really do try my best, I'm sure my coverage occasionally reveals an ignorance or two with the short stuff. HOWEVER! I know fast when I see it.
Serina Julien (Penn State) is fast. After setting a meet record in the damn prelims (12.20), Julien won the 100m final handily with a 12.27 finish. As if that weren't enough, she pulled the same stunt in the 200m! A meet record in the prelim (25.05) followed by a victory in the final (25.80). That's fast.
Elena Granados (Michigan) is also quite fast. Strong, too. Check this out: After taking 2nd in both prelims for the aforementioned 100m and 200m, Granados finished 4th and 2nd, respectively, before clocking a meet record 57.41 in the 400m. As if that weren't enough, she also won the long jump (5.23m) and the triple (11.81m). AND! Granados also anchored her club's 4x100m squad, crushed a 4x400m leg, PR'd in the high jump, PR'd in the discus, and won best original screenplay at this year's golden globes. I made that last one up, but you believed me for a second, didn't you?
Thanks again to the folks over at the National Club Running Database. If you haven't taken a look at their website (or at the rest of this year's results!) I'd recommend you do so ASAP.
Digging through these results has me contemplating grad school if only to cash in on my remaining NIRCA eligibility. I'm not sniffing the podium in a league as strong as this one, but maybe I could add a third result to my NCRD page. Can't blame a guy for dreaming.
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| photo courtesy of Jonathan Karr, NCRD |
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