Sprints and Field Events Take Center Stage

As distance runners rest their legs in preparation for upcoming conference meets, the national spotlight turned toward sprints and field events, which popped off around the country this weekend. 

Photo: UW-Oshkosh Athletics - Jaylen Grant (second from left) ran the #5 60m Dash in D3 History

The most head-turning performance of the weekend occurred in Wisconsin, where UW-Oshkosh duo Jaylen Grant and Davian Willems ran 6.72 and 6.74, respectively, in the men’s 60m dash. This places them fifth and tenth all-time in D3 history, as well as at the top of this season’s NCAA D3 leaderboards. They take over as the fastest duo in D3 History after bumping down WIAC rivals Parker Witt and Corey Broussard from UW-Whitewater. Grant and Willems will look to complete every teammates dream and go 1-2 at Nationals. If we’re allowed to look ahead to outdoors, the Titans 4x1 relay could take a serious run at the record with their 60m event squad average of 6.78.

The Titans currently have five unique athletes qualified for the men’s 60m dash at the national meet, meaning this event could bring in many points for Oshkosh’s team score and the chance of bringing home the winning trophy. With brother-duo Steven and Ryan Potter in the 800m, Lodyn Little and Rashaad Henderson in the 200m, Eli Tranel in the pole vault, Jonathan Wilburn in the triple jump, and a 4x400m relay (with their new season-best of 3:17.18), UW-Oshkosh is a favorite heading into the championship meet. 

In the men’s 200m, a familiar face rose to the top of the national list. Wartburg’s Dallas Wright, the 2019 NCAA D3 400m hurdle champ, ran a lifetime PR of 21.67 this weekend. Wright currently sits in the top three of the nation in three different events: the 200m, the 400m, and the 60m hurdles. Last spring, Wright showed just how nationally dominant he is when he brought home All-American trophies in four different events, making a strong case that he could handle a triple-workload indoors.  JP Vaught inches up the leaderboard after running 21.48 at Wittenberg. While this is the 3rd fastest time ran this season, the conversion from the oversized track will bring the 2021 Outdoor 100m/200m national down to #7.

In the men’s pole vault, Washington & Lee’s Joe O’Connor set a 10-cm PR of 5.10m, making him third on the qualifying list and just one of six athletes to clear 5m or higher this season. Another huge PR came from Piedmont’s Anthony Jordan, who long jumped 7.45, a national lead by 6cm. Before this weekend, Jordan had only jumped as far as 7.17m, making this mark nearly a foot farther than he’s ever jumped before. He also set a personal best of 7.21 in the 60m dash this past weekend, insinuating his speed down the runway must be the secret to his whopping PR.

In men’s weight throw, Augustana’s Carson Eipers and Carroll’s Steven Hermsen add their names to the small list of men to throw over 19m this season. In the men’s shot put, UW-Stout’s Kevin Ruechel dropped the bomb we all knew was coming based on his national-title-setting PR of 18.31m. He threw 18.22m this past weekend to now lead the nation by a full meter. 

In the women’s events, the top of the sprints leaderboards is creeping toward faster times as Nebraska Wesleyan’s Maddie Moran and Ithaca’s Tia Jones both ran 7.59 in the 60m dash, tying them for 18th all-time. Jones also ran an impressive PR of 25.11 in the 200m dash. This time puts her second on the qualifying list behind Wisconsin Lutheran’s Kendra Schumacher, who became the first woman to break 25 this season when she ran 24.97 this weekend.

In the 60m hurdles, North Central’s Julia Babinec takes over the 14th all-time spot with her time of 8.62. She has been consistent the past two weeks, running 8.64, 8.65, and 8.62, putting her in high favor heading into the championship season. One has to wonder if it will be enough to outperform national leader Birgen Nelson of Gustavus Adolphus whose fastest time this season is 8.60. 

In the relays, Wartburg’s 4x400 team rose to second in the nation with its time of 3:53.95, just ahead of WashU. WashU chose to shine in a different relay this weekend: the DMR. The squad of Aoife Dunne, Katherine Dudley, Emma Kelley, and Emma Walter ran 11:43.70 to outperform the second fastest team, Johns Hopkins, that ran 11:43.93 last weekend at BU. The matchup between these two teams could turn some heads at the national meet. The WashU men’s DMR slide into the #4 spot with their 9:56. They’re the 12th team to run sub 10 this season.

Tufts had a big day in the vertical jumps as Jaidyn Appel cleared 1.72m in the women’s high jump to trail leader Breya Christopher of Wartburg by just 2cm. Teammate Sarah Firth set a lifetime best in the vault at 3.87m to move her to third on the qualifying list. 

In the horizontal jumps, 2021 outdoor national champion in both long and triple jump, Isabel Maletich of UChicago, was surpassed by WPI’s Katy Nippert and Webster’s Jordan Lande. Nippert jumped 5.88m in the long jump and Lande jumped 12.87m in the triple jump. With stiff competition in both of these events, Maletich, whose season bests are currently 5.86m and 12.39m, could have a hard time repeating the double title at the national meet. 

Another big name that was bumped to second this weekend was RIC’s Chelsea Yang in the women’s weight throw. Trine’s Valerie Obear threw a new school record of 19.00m, which is No. 16 on the all-time list. Obear becomes the first woman to throw 19m this season, but Yang boasts a 2020 PR of 19.42m meaning she will certainly bring the heat at nationals. 

Although the distance world remained quiet this weekend,  one athlete chose to gain some pre-conference confidence by stepping down in distance and truly letting it rip. Obear’s teammate, Evie Miller, ran a stunning No. 6 all-time best in the women’s mile at 4:45.13. Miller rises to the No. 2 spot on the indoor qualifying list, tucked behind national record-holder Ella Baran and just in front of Kassie Parker. Wedged between two of the fastest women in D3 history, Miller starts to write her own resume of accomplishment. 

Buckle up, D3 fans.  It’s championship season.