Track & Field Spring Nationals Recap

April 15th, 2017

Wisconsin Men, Penn State Women Finally Finish on Top

For the Wisconsin men and Penn State women, coming close to what would have been their first-ever NIRCA Track & Field team national titles a year ago - only to go home with the runner-up trophies - may have been just the motivation needed. 365 days later, each turned in balanced and dominating performances and this time the national title trophy rode home with them to Madison and State College, respectively.

  

When the final points were tallied, Wisconsin put up 110 to outdistance Indiana’s 93.5 and Georgia Southern’s 81. The Badgers had three firsts to their credit but scored in 12 of the meet’s 17 events to clinch their first ever title in the spring season. On the women’s side, Penn State finally got the proverbial monkey off their backs to take the championship for the first time in program history, following four consecutive runner-up finishes to powerhouse Illinois (most of them in heartbreaking fashion). The Nittany Lions were dominant in 2017 though, scoring 211 points over the two-day meet, which was 94 better than the Illini’s 117. Wisconsin and Indiana tied for third with 64 points each. Penn State claimed just one first on the track but took all five field event titles and amazingly scored points in 16 of the 17 events contested (the Lions actually did not enter an athlete in the 3000m steeple).

  
SPRINTS RECAP

Men: To say Georgia Southern owned the sprints may be an understatement. Andrew Johnson (10.94) and La’kai Whatley (11.05) went 1-2 in the 100 meters while teammate Chaz Williams (11.25) was fourth as GSU earned 24 points in that event alone. In the 200 meters it was Whatley’s turn, who crossed the line in a meet record 21.51. Williams was second this time (22.13) and Johnson third (22.14). Whatley picked up another individual win by virtue of the 400 meters, edging out Kevin Sager of Illinois. Whately went 49.46 to Sager’s 49.78. The above mentioned GSU trio joined Tomi Aluko to run away with the 4x100 relay title in 42.23. Ohio State was the next best in 43.11 while Penn State placed third in 43.30. In all, Georgia Southern would score 69 of their 81 points in the sprints.


Women: Illinois’ Becky Haight swept the individual sprints in impressive fashion. In the 100 meters Haight raced to a 12.65 ahead of Virginia Tech’s Hannah Colbert (12.81) and Penn State’s Devin McDuffie (13.05). In the 200 meters, Haight not only won big but also broke former teammate Lauren Jonen’s meet record, recording a time of 25.99 (Jonen went 26.11 last year). Colbert was again second (26.70) while Indiana’s Audrey Rich was third (26.77). The trifecta was complete in the 400, but it wasn’t easy. Haight (1:00.31) outkicked Ohio State’s Emma Dalan (1:00.78) by fourth tents of a second for the win. Wisconsin’s Hanna Doctor placed third in 1:00.95. The 4x100 meter relay proved to be Penn State’s only win on the track as the Nittany Lion team of Kati Piger, Cassandra Lageman, Devin McDuffie, and Rachel Pitman passed the baton around in 51.34. Virginia Tech took the silver in 52.78 and Ohio State the bronze in 52.93.

 

MID DISTANCE RECAP

Men: With the top 17 finishers all breaking 1:59, the 800 meters was one of the most hotly contested events of the Championships. Stanford’s Michael Becich made sure the long trek across the country was worth it though, giving the Cardinal a national title with his time of 1:55.30. Missouri’s Josh Thompson was the next best in 1:55.47 and Central Michigan’s Nick Sleeman was third in 1:55.61. Stanford would double their pleasure in the mid distance events when Benedikt Buenz took home the 1500 meter title with a time of 3:58.93. Penn State’s Bryan Moon (4:00.27) was second followed by Purdue’s Nate Veldt (4:00.29). The 4x400 relay saw a meet record fall for the third consecutive year, and this time it was shattered! The Illinois foursome of Kevin Sager, Mason Rosenberg, Keith Lee, and Michael Jang recorded a 3:18.47 that won the event by over six seconds and took down the meet record of 3:23.43 established last year by Penn State. The Nittany Lions were second (3:24.88) and Georgia Southern was third (3:24.96).

Women: If you enjoy records falling, get to know Wisconsin’s Madeline Pape. With two individual wins, and part of a relay title, Pape swept the mid distance events and set meet records in all three disciplines. In the 800 meters, the Badger speedster completed her two laps around the IU track in 2:16.47, breaking the 2:19.10 record set by Emma Dalan of Ohio State in 2015. Michigan State’s Erin Zimmer was also under the old mark, placing second in 2:18.63 while Indiana’s Emily Wagoner was third in 2:21.91. A day later Pape took down the 1500 meter record previously held by Michigan’s Stephanie Resis (4:48.98 set in 2015), running 4:45.42 for the victory. Iowa State’s Katlyn Abelidinger and Michigan State’s Zimmer were both well under record time placing second and third respectively in 4:46.75 and 4:47.53. Pape would be joined by Hanna Doctor, Sara Kaiser, and Angie Konicek to give Wisconsin a very important 4x400 relay title (which would clinch the third place team trophy) in a record time of 4:04.46. Illinois previously held the meet record of 4:04.57. Penn State would take second in 4:07.55 while Virginia Tech raced to third in 4:12.84.

 

DISTANCE RECAP

 

Men: Iowa State has a long-standing tradition of representing in the distance events. And even with the graduation of Rob Scanlon, the Cyclone men didn’t miss a beat in the 5000 meters when Jason Thomas and Will Graham went 1-2. Thomas broke the tape in 14:56.16 while Graham was just behind in 14:59.59. Ian Whittall from the University of Pennsylvania took third in 15:03.12. The always entertaining 3000 meter steeplechase saw Penn State’s John Lacy close his career with a title, just off meet record pace in 9:37.16. Michigan’s Sam Schroeder placed second (9:43.21), edging out Indiana’s Ethan Worthington (9:43.64). In the 4x800 relay, two clubs finished under the old mark of 7:51.73 set by Indiana at the 2015 Championships. Wisconsin’s team of Izak Oltman, Nathan Orf, Evan Kohl, and Andrew Schilling covered the distance in 7:51.34 with Indiana right on their heels in 7:51.62. Virginia Tech went 7:56.32 for third place.

Women: West Virginia has not been in NIRCA very long but the Mountaineers can already add a national champion to their resume as Lauryn Falcone brought home the 5000 meter title with a time of 17:59.67. Delaware’s Roxanne Ramirez, a standout last fall in cross country, was second in 18:05.76 and Indiana’s Marissa Baranauskas wore the bronze medal in 18:06.57. Robyn Ellerbrock gave Illinois another individual win taking the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:36.49. Virginia Tech’s Paige Macauley stopped the clock in 11:54.11, just a head of Connecticut’s Erin Gibbons (11:56.49). Madeline Pape was once again part of an event title, this time helping her Badger teammates to the 4x800 relay win. Along with Hanna Doctor, Zoe Panos, and Sara Kaiser the Badgers won in 9:44.14. Michigan State, always strong in the distance relay, was runner up in 9:48.20 and Ohio State took third in 9:57.43.

 

HURDLES RECAP

Men: The 2017 Championships saw six event records fall on the men’s side and Ohio State’s Rasheed Flowers accounted for one of them when he raced to the 110 meter hurdles title. Flowers time of 15.42 erased the 15.57 mark set last year by Daniel Jappah of Georgia Southern. Wisconsin’s Hunter Cummings finished second in 15.83 and Penn State’s Thomas Leonard was third in 16.02. In the longer hurdle event, it was Colton Davis of Wisconsin standing atop the podium with the 400 meter hurdle win in 57.10. Davis was a lean better than Indiana’s Thomas Elton IV who also recorded a 57.10. Penn State’s Kyle Bennison was a close third in 57.21.

Women: Connecticut’s Cheyenne Haverfield went toe to toe with defending champ and event record holder Erica Filipovits of Penn State for the 100 meter hurdle crown. Haverfield would have the edge, and get the win, in 15.62 while Filipovits was runner-up in 15.72. Jada Haynes of Indiana grabbed third place in a time of 16.15. In the 400 meter hurdles, Emma Dalan of Ohio State defended her title with a sizeable win in 1:05.87 (just off her meet record from a year ago). Penn State’s Filipovits went the extra 300 meters from earlier in the meet to take another second in a hurdle event, running 1:08.40. Gabrielle Lantis from Michigan was third in 1:09.94.

 

JUMPS RECAP

Men: Two of the three jumping events gave us new NIRCA records this year. St. John’s Michael Zeno took a title in both a horizontal and a vertical, with his efforts in the triple jump and high jump. In the triple, Zeno went 13.79m (45’03”) which took down Illinois’ Mateusz Lopez’s 13.49m record. Lopez was second with a leap of 13.15m (43’1 ¾ “) and Wisconsin’s Peter Van Beek was third (12.74m, 41’09 ¾”). In the high jump, Zeno soared 1.84m (6’00 ½“) for the win. Michigan State’s Sean O’Hare placed second in 1.81m (5’11 ½”) and Indiana’s Dennis Rendleman was third with a height of 1.78m (5’10”). Jared Duke gave the University of Toledo an individual win by virtue of his 6.55m (21’06”) leap in the long jump. Duke bested the record of 6.52m held by Laurant Dure of Bowling Green State and Alex Baller of Iowa State. Speaking of Baller, he would take third this year, going 6.49m (21’3 ½”) while Ohio State’s Brady Rude was the event runner-up with a mark in the sand of 6.53m (21’5 ¼”).

Women: Three different athletes accounted for the three Penn State wins in the jumping events. Kati Piger won the long jump, Cassandra Lageman won the triple jump, and Vanessa Romulus took top honors in the high. In the long, Piger jumped 4.94m (16’2 ½”) to beat out Indiana’s Jada Haynes jump of 4.87m (15’11 ¾”). PSU’s Devin McDuffie was third (4.81m, 15’9 ½”). Lageman leaped 10.34m (33’11 ¼”) to win the triple jump while Nittany Lion teammate Erica Filipovits was third (10.17m, 33’4 ½”). In between was Iowa State’s Yasmeen Mansoorieh who also leaped 10.17m (33’4 ½”). The high jump again saw a 1-3 Penn State finish when Romulus (the meet record holder) cleared 1.56m (5’1 ¼”) and Filipovits cleared 1.50m (4’11”). Indiana’s Haynes was again the runner-up with a height of 1.53m (5’00 ¼”).

 

THROWS RECAP

Men: While his teammates were racking up points on the track for the team champs from Wisconsin, Michael Fink was busy setting a new meet record in the shot put. With a 13.63m (44’08 ¾”) mark, Fink took the event title and broke one of the longer-standing meet records, 16.36m by Tim Byrne of Delaware, on the books since 2013. Indiana’s Tyler Delon was the shot put runner-up (12.54m, 41’01 ¾”) while Illinois’ Thomas Nute was third (12.30m, 40’04 ¼”). Paul Fina from Illinois brought home discus gold with a toss of 42.11m (138’02”). UConn’s Drevaun Bailey was second with a toss of 40.03m (131’04”) and Wisconsin’s TJ Kleckner nabbed third (34.64m, 113’08”).

Women: Marley O’Brien appears to be the next in line to uphold the tradition Penn State has established in the throwing events. The freshman won both the shot and discus titles, taking the shot with a mark of 10.70m (35’01 ¼”) and the discus with a toss of 29.84m (97’11”). Illinois’ Obioma Azie was second in the shot at 10.43m (34’02 ¾”) and St. John’s Dionne Giang was third (9.27m, 30’05”). Penn State’s Rachel Kirby took the silver in the discus with a toss of 26.94m (88’05”) and UConn’s Stephanie Sheehan was third with a mark of 26.60m (87’03”).

 

MEET MVPs

2017 NIRCA Spring Track & Field Nationals MVPs

An addition to the NIRCA Track & Field National Championships was the recognition of the top point winners on the track and in the field for 2017. By virtue of three individual titles (100, 200, 400) Becky Haight of Illinois amassed 30 points to garner women’s track MVP honors. In the field events, Marley O’Brien’s two victories (shot put, discus) and 20 points for Penn State were the most earned by a female. On the men’s side, Georgia Southern’s La’kai Whatley won two events (200, 400) and was second in another (100) on the track to tally 28 points on this own. In the field it was St. John’s Michael Zeno scoring 26 points in the jumps (long, triple, high) to take top honors.

 

TEAM SCORES

MEN: 1. Wisconsin (110), 2. Indiana (93.5), 3. Georgia Southern (81), 4. Penn State (79), 5. Illinois (72), 6. Michigan (56.5), 7. Ohio State (52), 8. Stanford (33), 9. Iowa State (31), 10. St. John’s (30), 11. Missouri (20), 12. Connecticut (19), 13. Michigan State (17), 14. Virginia Tech (16), 15. Purdue (12), 15. Central Michigan (12), 17. Toledo (10), 18. Minnesota (9), 19. Pennsylvania (7), 20. Virginia (6), 21. Maryland (3), 21. Delaware (3), 21. North Carolina State (3), 21. James Madison (3), 25. Georgetown (2), 26. Southeast Missouri State (1), 26. Grand Valley State (1)

WOMEN: 1. Penn State (211), 2. Illinois (117), 3. Wisconsin (64), 3. Indiana (64), 5. Virginia Tech (62), 6. Michigan (51), 6. Ohio State (51), 8. Connecticut (38), 9. Michigan State (34), 10. Iowa State (21), 11. Delaware (18), 12. St. John’s (17), 13. West Virginia (13), 14. Minnesota (12), 15. Stanford (4), 15. Central Michigan (4), 17. Miami of Ohio (1)

 

 

MEET RECORDS

MEN:

Event

Time/mark

Name

School

Date

100m dash

10.68

Andrew Johnson

Georgia Southern

4/9/2016

200m dash

21.51

La'Kai Whatley

Georgia Southern

4/8/2017

400m

48.18

Mason Rhodes

Georgia Southern

4/6/2013

800m

1:54.69

John Darmody

Indiana

4/11/2015

110mHH

15.42

Rasheed Flowers

Ohio State

4/8/2017

400m Hurdles

55.18

Brandon Cole

Georgia Southern

4/11/2015

1500m

3:55.02

John Darmody

Indiana

4/11/2015

3000m Steeple

9:36.50

Chris DeSilva

Illinois

4/6/2013

5000m

14:47.90

Jake Baranowski

Indiana

4/11/2015

4x400m

3:18.47

Illinois

Illinois

4/9/2017

4x800m

7:51.34

Wisconsin

Wisconsin

4/8/2017

4x100m

41.63

Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern

4/11/2015

Long Jump

6.55m

Jared Duke

Toledo

4/9/2017

Triple Jump

13.79m

Michael Zeno

St. John's

4/8/2017

High Jump

1.87m

Tie:
David Tarcza &
Connor Kikta

Tie:
Maryland &
Michigan St.

4/9/2016

Shot Put

16.63m

Michael Fink

Wisconsin

4/8/2017

Discus

49.07m

Tim Byrne

Delaware

4/6/2013

 

WOMEN:

Event

Time/mark

Name

School

Date

100m dash

12.59

Lauren Jonen

Illinois

4/9/2016

200m dash

25.99

Rebecca Haight

Illinois

4/9/2017

400m

58.05

Erica Dombro

Michigan

4/5/2014

800m

2:16.47

Madeline Pape

Wisconsin

4/8/2017

100m hurdles

15.44

Erica Filipovits

Penn State

4/9/2016

400m Hurdles

1:05.30

Emma Dalan

Ohio State

4/9/2016

1500m

4:45.42

Madeline Pape

Wisconsin

4/9/2017

3000m Steeple

11:03.47

Dani Fischer

Wisconsin

4/6/2013

5000m

17:38.83

Stephanie Schmidt

Michigan State

4/11/2015

4x400m

4:04.46

Wisconsin

Wisconsin

4/9/2017

4x800m

9:40.05

Ohio State

Ohio State

4/9/2016

4x100m

49.41

Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern

4/11/2015

Long Jump

5.29m

Lauren Tusar

Penn State

4/5/2014

Triple Jump

10.94m

Erin Murphy

Illinois

4/11/2015

High Jump

1.62m

Vanessa Romulus

Penn State

4/11/2015

Shot Put

11.61m

Stephanie Panny

Penn State

4/11/2015

Discus

30.83m

Kate Sparks

Penn State

4/5/2014

 

Photo Credits: Sarah Foss & Max Petrosky


Stephanie Bartley, NIRCA