Flat IS Fast
But banked is faster
The latest rankings are now live! If you or anyone else on your club wants to get in on the action, check out the information packet created by the one and only Jonathan Karr!
As always, don’t forget to check out the National Running Club Database! We’re doing our best to make sure every meet is uploaded! There are sure to be a few meets we missed on the Database, but you can add it and it will be included! More information about that can be found on the Database website.
Higher, Faster, Stronger - Club
Kicking off this season, before hitting any NIRCA meets, we’ve already seen a staggering THIRTEEN indoor collegiate club records1 set across the Sprints, Relays, Distance, Jumps, and Throwing Events. We’ve kindly written them all out here for your reading pleasure:
Sprints
Alanna Smith sped through a lap and a half with a 42.36 300m for UConn back at the New Balance Early Bird Meet in December.
The UConn women are making a statement this season, being the only other team to take down a sprinting record with their 4x200m team setting a new collegiate club record with a team of Natalia Anagnostou, Mary Jasmine DeVivo, Kayla Smith, & Chrystelle Fignole dropping a 1:44.81 on the short track.
Jamill Yacoubou Adam from UMD has come out blazing this season, unseating the hotshot from last year’s Lucas Band and setting a new 60m Hurdles record of 7.92 at the George Mason Patriot Games.
Distance
Jenna Houdek from the University of Michigan ran a blazing 2:16.11 800m to take down another Wolverine, Mackenna Burkholder’s record of 2:16.54 by less than a second. She then followed up this performance with another record throwing down a 2:15.29 at the Michigan Invitational.
Michigan made it a clean sweep for this event when Hendrik Nykamp threw down a 1:52.08 at the Michigan Invitational about a week ago.
UNC’s Colter Sienkiewicz stole the 1000m record from his teammate Emanuel Williams TWICE running a 2:30.26 back in December, and a 2:27.25 to kick off February.
Noah McMullen of the Mizzou run club and arguably more well known 😏as a member of the CRC Coaches Poll ran a blazing 8:14.42 3000m to break Pieter Heester’s record from last season by over 5 seconds.
Ava Rotell for the Hokies dropped a 3:06.98 1km in January at the Liberty Open to break a record set earlier this year by Dylan Tepera of UNC when she dropped a 3:09.84.
Jumps
Abayomi Awoyomi from Wisconsin soared to a 14.33m Triple Jump to crown himself king of the TJ now holding the longest all time marks for indoor and outdoor.
Edward Grill of Penn State broke TWO records in his first meet of the season, stealing both of the best marks for High AND Long Jump with respective jumps of 2.05m and 6.94m.
Ethan Metz of Ohio State spouted wings to clear a staggering 4.56m in the Pole Vault, giving this season a clean sweep of all the men’s ‘jumping’ events.
Throws
Michigan State’s Ifeoluwa Ayoala threw a 12.53m Shot Put at the Hillsdale Wide Track Classic to put the Spartans on the map as nationals makes its way to the Great Lake State.
We’re Going Back To Happy Valley
Penn State’s home indoor invitational is consistently one of the biggest college club meets in the nation, and this year is no different. In addition to their alums and a couple of extraneous run clubs, PSU is welcoming a whopping 19 college clubs to State College this weekend, including a very prominent newcomer, the reigning women’s Track and Field Champions, the University of Michigan. You can expect to see blazing times, meet records, and down-to-the-wire races start to finish.
Women’s Preview
DMR
Maryland is setting itself as the team to beat coming into this meet, with a 13:20.00 seed time that’s >20 seconds ahead of the next fastest team. With Lucia Larrea anchoring this team, we believe they have what it takes to beat anybody. The Huskies are certainly looking to avoid that and repeat their victory from last year in this event. The only other team seeded below the 14-minute mark is Penn State, which set themselves at 13:42.37. After their silver medal performance at cross nationals, we think they may be underselling themselves. A team to watch out for in this event is Georgetown. They have 23-minute 6k runner Ellen Anderson running in this one… and she is on the B-team!
60m Hurdles
Mei Mei McGrath of Penn State is returning to the field with a target on her back as last year’s champ over a smaller field. Seven athletes are seeded in front of the 10.63 that she won last year, with the leader in the clubhouse being UConn’s Mary Jasmine DeVivo, who has already started her season with an indoor collegiate club record as part of her 4x200m relay. One other athlete is seeded sub-10, with Saige Wassink representing Penn State.
60m
The clear favorite in this event is another standout from the home squad and last year’s second-place finisher, Serina Julien, who is seeded at 7.86, the mark she ran in January, which ranks 4th all-time among women’s 60m. Another member of UConn’s record-breaking 4x200m team, first-year Chrystelle Fignole, is looking to shake things up. Pitt is coming in with two athletes to watch in this event, with Samantha McClune holding the only other sub-8-second seed at 7.97, and Rachel Hall, who finished fourth last year and is coming in with an 8.10 seed.
4x200m
The women’s side of the meet this year continues to look like the home Penn State team against UConn. The newly anointed 4x200m record holders are showing up to win, with 3 of those relay members competing this weekend for the Huskies. PSU isn’t going to give this up without a fight as their squad comes in seeded sub-1:50. The Nittany Lions should likely be the favorite in this event, with Shayla Bismark and Payton Smith returning as the anchor legs of this relay with personal bests of 27 and 25, respectively. Keep an eye out for Pitt, who don’t have to travel far for this meet, and are bringing a lot of speed to this event.
Mile
One of the most highly contested events this weekend will be the women’s mile, with five women sweden between 5:15 and 5:20. The favorites to take the win are Michigan’s Ayla Balazer and Penn State’s Amelia Devan, both seeded at 5:15.00. Both teams are bringing another athlete into the mix at the top with Olivia Fabianski from PSU and Brenna Wendell from UofM looking to shake things up. The athlete everyone will be watching here is Lucia Larrea from Maryland. The former NCAA athlete will have a slight disadvantage under the rest of this field as the only athlete to have already competed in the DMR.
400m
Penn State has a massive 1-2 punch in this event with Shayla Bismark and Payton Smith both coming in with personal bests under 58 seconds in the 400m. They also took 2nd and 3rd place at last year’s national meet. The duo is only seeded at 1:00.00, the same as Mary Jasmine DeVivo of UConn. She’s never run an open 400m as far as we know, but she holds a personal best of 26.77 in the 200m and 67.56 in the 400m Hurdles, so we should be in for something fast. The top heat at this meet is rounded out with Amanda Callaghan of Maryland and Shelby Hall from PSU, both seeded at 63.
800m
Headlining this event are the two returning All-Americans from PSU, Mackenzie Nelson and Sophia Schell. Their seeds are matched, however, by another teammate in Olivia Fabianski and Michigan’s Ayla Balazer, trying to bounce back from the Mile to claim a double victory in PA. Another girl to watch closely in this event out of Cornell is last year’s HV champ, Wendy Bollum. She threw down a 2:23 for the win last year over the likes of Nelson, but she didn’t make the trip down to Richmond and, as far as we recorded, didn’t compete outdoors at all last year. Time will tell whether she needs to shake off some rust, but she’s dangerous nonetheless.
200m
The story on the women’s side of this meet is Penn State vs. UConn, and the 200m is where this looms largest. The only member of the top heat in this event not on one of those squads is an alumnus, Jillian Battista from PSU. Seeded fastest in this event is the aforementioned Mary Jasmine DeVivo, who comes in with a time of 27.00. Payton Smith is returning to reclaim her crown after a 26.26 for the win last year. She’s coming in with a target on her back, being the only athlete in the field with an All-American finish in the 200m last year. The Blue Hens are the most eager to break up this two-team takeover. In the second heat, Amanda Desenchak and Riley Rupprecht are both seeded sub-29. They both have the times to back up these seeds and are certainly hoping to throw down these performances this weekend. There are two unseeded athletes from the final heat that we are excited to watch in this event. Maryland’s Raquel Tolin claims multiple sub-28-second performances to her name from 2024, and out of left field, SUNY Cortland athlete Samantha Stanton claims a sub-29-second performance coming fresh out of high school racing.
3000m
For the longest individual race of the meet, five girls are coming in ready to break 11 minutes. We expect the race to be primarily between Jane Smith of Georgetown and West Virginia’s Ella Andrew. Jane is coming in with an 11:27 3200m from outdoor last year, and Ella holds a 10:51 3000m from indoor last year. Their XC ability is what leads us to hold them in such high regard, with both athletes holding sub-23-minute 6k PRs. Mina Petrova, out of Cornell, is seeded the quickest with a 10:30.00. We hope she can meet this time, as her only previous NIRCA racing came from XC, where she ran a 24:05 6k at the Northeast Regional. The home team is once again putting athletes near the top, with Amelia Devan and Nevaya Carr looking to keep this title for the Nittany Lions.
4x400m
We aren’t expecting the 4x400m to be much of a race, all things considered. Penn State is coming in with a 4:04.00 seed time for their squad of Payton Smith, Shayla Bismark, Sophia Schell, and Mackenzie Nelson. This very same squad won the meet last year by more than 17 seconds, clocking 4:03.58. Last year, PSU also showcased their 4x4 dominance by setting a new indoor record with a 3:59 and winning outdoor nationals in 3:57. The question for this race is: how fast will these girls run?
Shot Put
In case you weren’t already convinced of the strength of Penn State’s women’s squad, they have SIX of the seven highest-seeded entries in this event. We generally expect things to work out this way, with two very important exceptions. The highest seed coming into this event is Pitt's Liora Sheh, who boasts an impressive mark of 11.20m. We’ve yet to see her compete, but if she can match this mark, she has a very good shot at victory. The other non-PSU name to be ready for in this event is hiding without a seed. Jasmine Do Souto, a newcomer to American University, holds a high school PR of 11.22m, the strongest mark entering this event. Don’t let these marks make you think Penn State doesn’t have a chance here. Leah Allewelt took second at nationals in this event just last year, and Jillian Rihel grabbed second at this very meet last season.
Long Jump
The clear favorite coming into this event is last year’s champion and later All-American from the home team, Casey Gish, who comes in with a 5.19m best from this season. Her biggest competition appears to be first-year Kate Callaghan, who came to Maryland with a high school best of 4.9m. UConn is certainly hoping to score some points in this one, with three athletes seeded at 4.85m: Natalia Anagnostou, Natalie Bukai, and Chrystelle Fignole.
Triple Jump
Penn State is absolutely hoping for a repeat of last year, when eventual All-Americans Casey Gish, Tamera Witcher, and Emma Neskie went 123 in the Triple. A name you’ll remember from the Long Jump, Kate Callaghan is certainly looking to make her presence known as a first-year with the 2nd-highest seed. Out of Delaware, Lianna Greenstein is also coming in seeded >10.50m and will want to shake things up.
High Jump
As we come to the final field event of the day, we once again are talking about Penn State. Alize Reyes and Casey Gish from the home team are entering this event with the top seeds of 1.57m and 1.55m, respectively. Despite Reyes owning the higher seed, we predict Gish as the favorite after her win here last year and third-place finish in this event at nationals. Abby Nezich from Michigan and Elizabeth Boone from West Virginia are both hoping to reach new heights with their 1.47m seeds, putting them closest to victory among the challengers.
Men’s Preview
DMR
Unfortunately for the competitors, we’re expecting this race to be a one-team show. Fortunately, that team looks to challenge the collegiate club record of 10:24.25 held by Michigan. Penn State seems to believe similarly, seeding themselves at 10:30.00, which would put them No. 2 all-time in this event. Their team of Henry Stenta, Samuel Endres, Zane Cassell, and Allen (Nathan? Marcus?) is absolutely capable of achieving this mark, and how fast they go will depend on how good they feel. The next group of teams is certainly hoping to stay close enough to make it a race with West Virginia, Lehigh, and Maryland all packed together. XC standout Joshua Duffy is anchoring the Mountaineers, and if things are close at the end, he can certainly give this team a chance.
60m Hurdles
The far-and-away favorite in this event is the new record holder, Jamill Yacoubou Adam, out of Maryland, who has run faster than the rest of the field by more than 3 tenths of a second, for such a short event that’s an insane gap. He won’t be without contenders, though, as UofM’s Matthew Gordon is looking to make this his year and improve on his 7th-place All-American finish from last year as nationals make their way to MI. The next three fastest contenders all hail from State College, with the strongest of the bunch, Paul Netland III, coming off a wicked fast 3rd place finish in the 110H last year at nationals.
60m
After a season that didn’t see anyone break 11 in the 100m at nationals, and this very invite being won in 7.08, the entire fast heat is seeded quicker than that, with THREE guys under 7. The fastest seed in the event is Olusegun Akinnusi of UMD, a newcomer to this event, who holds a season best of 6.92. The home team’s Justin Eusebe is hot on his heels with a 6.92, and Michigan’s Tanner May is not far behind with a 6.98. These two athletes are 4th and 5th all-time in this event and look to meet their reputations. We hope the talk of the 7-second benchmark doesn’t make it seem like we don’t think last year's champion, Alex Metz from Pitt, isn’t a threat. With a Happy Valley victory under his belt, Alex is likely the biggest threat to breaking up this trio.
4x200m
The relays are always the most unpredictable events of any meet, with a bad handoff ruining an otherwise dominant run, and this event is no different. We will venture to say that the clear favorite coming into this event is the University of Michigan. They made a statement last weekend at the Michigan Invite. In the open 200m at that event, they saw three of this team’s athletes, Tanner May, Matthew Gordon, and Jacob Vogel, break the 23-second barrier indoors. The returning champs aren’t looking to let them have this without a fight as Penn State brings in a squad anchored by 200m All-American Zaid Nasrawi. Looking to shake things up and grab their first podium of the day is American University, who, with a team we believe is composed entirely of first-years, look to combine their 23.xx PRs for a low-1:30s time that can compete with the top of this field. That will all depend on how much fitness Tristen Bruce, Navin Gilchrist, Jo-Saih Lebale, and Matt Lubin brought with them to college.
Mile
Heat 1 of the men’s Mile looks to be one of (if not THE) most competitive races at Happy Valley this year. Headlined by Thomas Chun of Cornell, Samuel Endres of Penn State, and Theo Lynch of Maryland, they will look to fend off 4-7 from Michigan, led by Hendrik Nykamp, who is steering clear from competing against NIRCA athletes in the 800 to take on the Mile. All signs point to Endres taking the crown here, with the fastest PR of the bunch, his win here last year, and the highest finish at nationals of the bunch.
400m
You don’t want to miss this. Entering the meet, the first heat of this 400 meters is one of the tightest races of the day. Last year’s champ, Logan Hurney, headlines the field with a PR of 49.78 and a 4th place finish for Maryland at Nats. Close behind him is AU’s Alemdar Shiferaw Uzman, who appears to be projecting an improvement in fitness with a seed time of 50.80 to his college PR of 52.23 per the database. The Pitt duo of Justin Pacernick and Henry Cooper will be working together with their joint seeds of 51.00 to push ahead in this group and hopefully come out on top. As far as we know, Pacernick is coming into this event with the fastest time of the season at a 51.38, which trumps the field.
800m
For us, the race of the meet is Section 1 of the men’s 800m. Zane Cassell is the highest returning finisher, hoping to snag the win after taking 2nd to his old teammate Nathan Allen at this meet last season. He holds a personal best of 1:55.98, which shockingly is NOT the fastest in this heat. That title belongs to last year’s national bronze medalist out of Delaware, Dave Kelly, who ran a blistering 1:53.88 to take third at that meet. Dave is the favorite, but Zane isn’t the only one looking to put up a fight. There are SIX other guys seeded sub-2 for this meet, and that doesn’t even cover all of the athletes who have gone sub-2 in this field. Keyon Ziaie from Michigan is the third seed in this event. Though he hasn’t run an 800 since high school, he has already posted a pair of 4:19 miles this indoor season to back up his impressive entry. Theo Lynch from Maryland and Nicholas Udo from UPenn are even at 1:57.00. Neither has hit that mark in college. However, both have come close and must be in decent shape to enter themselves as such. The last athlete we want to highlight for this race is Henry Christiansen from Michigan. He’s been up and down and dealt with some injuries throughout his collegiate career. However, his PR of 1:56.72 gives him the third strongest college mark in this field, and he can certainly make a play for victory.
200m
We might have to rescind what we just said because WOW, we’re not sure we have ever seen a 200m field this stacked outside of nationals. Zaid Nasrawi highlights the field with an All-American in this event to his name and a PR of 21.92. Behind him are ten athletes seeded sub-23, meaning we could see this shaking out any which way. Aforementioned returning 60m champ Alex Metz holds the 2nd fastest entry in this race with a 22 flat, followed somewhat closely by a first-year out of West Virginia, Matthew Allen, with a 22.19. The last name we would be remiss not to mention is Tanner May from UofM. He came away perhaps a little disappointed last year, but he is only two years removed from an All-American finish in the 100 and 200m in 2024. He will certainly be looking to challenge Zaid for the win.
3000m
Binghamton leads the charge!!! New York’s own Preston Kostioukov has set himself as the man to beat with an 8:39 for the fastest entry in this race. Behind him out of UMD is Ryan Tyberg, whose 10:23 PR is a far cry from his 8:45 seed, but his 26.xx 8k at the Mid-Atlantic Regional suggests new levels of fitness for this Terrapin. The last athlete we expect to vie for the crown here is last year's champion, Samuel Endres. He’ll likely come in tired from the Mile and DMR, but his explosion in XC this year indicates he’s reached a new level of fitness.
4x400m
The Happy Valley Invitational wouldn’t be complete without a wire-to-wire 4x400m to close out the day’s races. Michigan and Penn State are seeded at 3:24.70 and 3:25.00, respectively, with quite a few familiar faces in each lineup to back up these claims. These teams will have to be wary of American’s squad, as any team with many fast freshmen is dangerous, as they come in with highly trained, well-raced legs. They haven’t lost that youthful spirit that tells them, “I can beat anybody.” UConn will be another team to watch out for as they come in as the returning champs in this event. However, they don't appear to be bringing any of their victorious squad back.
Shot Put
We’re expecting a three-man throw-off in State College this weekend. Penn State athlete Colin McCormack enters with the highest PR at 15.09m, with teammate Mitchell Maher not too far behind at 14.79m. Maxwell Pizzolato from Maryland made a name for himself at this very meet last year by upsetting the hometown Nittany Lions to take the win, and he used that momentum to propel himself to a national championship. He is certainly the favorite coming in, but these two athletes finished 2nd and 3rd at nationals last year and are two years removed from finishing 1st and 2nd. They’ll want to put an end to Maxwell’s season of dominance over the event.
Long Jump
We can’t do a preview of any jumping event without starting with the clear favorite to take the win: Edward Grill from Penn State. Shockingly, this is the only jumping event the multi-national champ did not win at this meet last year. Still, he’s coming in as the top seed, and we expect him to take the title. Teammate Zuri Ruffin boasts the 2nd furthest entry and looks to challenge Edward for the title of best long jumper on the team. Two other challengers look primed to compete for the title this weekend, with Jayden Smith from Towson University coming in seeded 6.70m and Deryck Assenga from UConn entering himself at 6.60m.
Triple Jump
Edward Grill won last year as the only athlete to reach 13m, and we won’t bet against him winning again. That said, Deryck Assenga is coming into this event seeded at a very competitive 13.40m, and Jayden Smith, who boasts the 3rd highest entry mark in the LJ, is doubling down for the Triple. We’re also keeping an eye on James Sessa from Penn State, who ended up 2nd to his teammate here last year and is out for revenge.
High Jump
After losing out to Paris Johnson in last year’s national meet, we expect Edward Grill to come into this season with a chip on his shoulder to prove his ability in his strongest event. He is seeded at 2.05m, and if anyone is gonna clear that, it’s going to be him. Close on his heels is Christian Hicks from West Virginia, who recently soared above 1.88m in January to get his season going. Also in contention are a pair of recognizable names from UConn: Eric Meade, who we expect to be in it to win it, and someone you are more likely to recognize from sprinting, Barion Perry, who entered with a high seed of 1.82m. Hopefully, these athletes can put up some strong competition.
Coming Up Next
This weekend, we’ll see 11 clubs competing at indoor meets across the country, with three clubs making their Indoor season debuts. NYU is starting their season on Feb 12 at the NY Night of the Races, and High Point is starting its season on the 13th at the Sound Invite. The much-anticipated first race for Purdue is happening on the 14th at the Depauw Indoor Invitational. Watch out for the Boilermakers, they’ve hit the NIRCA transfer portal hard, bringing in last year’s national bronze medalist in the 100m for Penn State, Toju Maku.
Stay tuned for our coverage of Illinois’ Club Relays. We will release a preview article ahead of the meet, which is currently scheduled for Feb 28.