USTFCCCA News & Notes
Weekend Preview: All Eyes on Boston & Fayetteville
Welcome to the 2021-2022 indoor track & field season!
From now until March 11-12, when the NCAA Championships are held in each of the three divisions in either Birmingham, Alabama (NCAA Division I), Pittsburg, Kansas (NCAA Division II) or Winston-Salem, North Carolina (NCAA Division III), we’re bound to see numerous jaw-dropping performances and record-breaking efforts across the collegiate landscape.
From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Records & Lists
More than 20 meets are on the schedule this weekend as sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, throwers and combined-event athletes will look to shake off the cobwebs from a long offseason, while the distance runners – fresh off a stellar cross country season – hope to show that residual fitness is real. Our eyes are focused on two meets which promise quick times and big marks: the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston and the Wooo Pig Classic in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener
Date: Saturday, December 4 | Location: Boston, Massachusetts
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET
Water is wet.
The sky is blue.
Distance events at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener are loaded.
Not only that, but the elite sections promise to be quick: the men’s 5000 meters is expected to be rabbited through 2400m+ in 8:03 (13:25 pace); the men’s 3000 meters through 1600m+ at 4:11 (7:50 pace), the women’s 5000 meters through 2400m+ at 9:12 (15:20 pace); the women’s 3000 meters at 3:44 (8:52 pace). Those would be collegiate-leading marks from the last indoor season in all but one of those events (Cooper Teare headlined the chart of the men’s 3000 at 7:46.10).
At least 25 All-Americans from this past cross country season will compete between the four races with 11 in the women’s 5000, 10 in the men’s 5000, two in the women’s 3000 and two in the men’s 3000. Also included in the start lists are four reigning champions from the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships back in March: Wesley Kiptoo of Iowa State and Christian Noble of Lee (Tenn.) in the men’s 5000 (Noble topped the NCAA DII podium twice); Joyce Kimeli of Auburn and Courtney Wayment of BYU in the women’s 5000 (Wayment won the 3000 last year).
The elite section of the men’s 5000 headlines the meet at 6 pm ET and justifiably so. Twelve athletes have entry marks of 13:30 or faster with six collegians who dipped under that barrier during the 2021 track & field seasons: Kiptoo at 13:21.02; Nico Young of Northern Arizona at 13:24.26; Eduardo Herrera of Colorado at 13:24.46; Casey Clinger of BYU at 13:24.90; Brandon Garnica of BYU at 13:26.62; and Abidhamid Nur of Northern Arizona at 13:26.74. It should be noted that those marks came outdoors, but both Clinger and Garnica went sub-13:30 on the oversized oval at the Dempsey Indoor back in February (13:28.79 and 13:29.16, respectively).
The elite section of the women’s 5000, set to start at 4:40 pm ET, features 11 of those All-Americans – of which three finished in the top-10, including individual national champion Whittni Orton of BYU, Kelsey Chmiel of team champion NC State and Maddy Denner of Notre Dame (Orton will compete unattached on Saturday). Three athletes who will race in collegiate uniforms all have PRs of 15:30 or faster: Wayment at 15:17.58; Lauren Ryan of Florida State at 15:22.48; and Hannah Steelman of NC State at 15:30.87. Again, it should be mentioned that those marks all came outdoors. Kimeli was fastest of the bunch during the indoor season.
Look for notable athletes like Katelyn Tuohy and Samantha Bush of NC State, as well as Kate Hunter of BYU in the women’s 3000 at 2:55 pm ET and Athanas Kioko of Campbell, as well as Aidan Ryan of Williams in the men’s 3000 at 3:28 pm ET.
Wooo Pig Classic
Date: Friday, December 3 | Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET
Arkansas will host a meet in December for the first time at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with the Wooo Pig Classic on Friday.
One of the events to keep an eye on is the women’s 5000 meters, where six All-Americans from last month’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will take their talents to the oval. A pair of Top-10 finishers lead the start list in Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State (fifth) and Minnesota’s Bethany Hasz (seventh). They’ll be joined by Lauren Gregory of Arkansas (19th), Megan Hasz of Minnesota (23rd), Allie Schadler of Washington (25th) and Isabel Van Camp of Arkansas (37th).
GVSU Holiday Open
Date: Friday, December 3 | Location: Allendale, Michigan
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET
Three of the four combined individual champions from the 2021 NCAA Division II & NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will compete on Friday at the GVSU Holiday Open.
Both of the men’s champions – Isaac Harding of Grand Valley State (NCAA DII) and Alex Phillip of John Carroll (NCAA DIII) – are entered in the men’s 5000 meters, set to start at 7:36 pm ET.
Hannah Becker of Grand Valley State, who captured the NCAA DII women’s title last month, is expected to race the women’s 3000 meters at 6:10 pm ET.