2023 D3 Track and Field Indoor Nationals Recap
After a record-setting regular season, the D3 indoor national meet followed suit. When a championship record was set early on in the men’s 60m prelims, fans knew they were in for an electric weekend. What impressed us the most was the tenacity with which these athletes competed. In a national meet setting, tactics often prevail as places outweigh times. However, this was not the case this past weekend. We saw championship records in sprint prelims, distance races going hard from the gun, and field athletes pushing their marks to personal bests. In total, athletes set 14 new championship records and two national records. What a weekend it was.
Take a look back at some of our favorite moments from the 2023 indoor national championships.
Photo Credit: @KyleLauff
UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski set the tone for the weekend when he set a new men’s 60-meter dash championship record of 6.67 in the 60-meter prelim. Earlier in the season, Blaskowski ran a 6.65 in this event at the indoor WIAC championships to set a new D3 national record. In total, he has run at or below the previous national record of 6.68 six times, including his NCAA prelim race.
Photo Credit: @MrAlanLam
Later in the day, Blaskowski broke a second championship record in the men’s 200-meter dash prelim, running a time of 21.20, just 0.07 seconds off of the national record time he set in this event earlier in the season. His record lasted all but a minute until Ramapo’s Cheick Traore dropped a time of 21.17 in the next heat to rewrite the championship for the second time. While these performances set the bar high for day one of the championships, they were merely a foreshadowing of what Saturday’s final would have in store in this event.
Photo Credit: NicoKlementzos
The men’s 5k was arguably one of the most exciting races of day one. UW-Whitewater’s Christian Patzka made a decisive move at 1k to go and ran away with his first national champion. He beat defending champion and 5k national record holder Alex Phillip of John Carroll after taking runner-up to him during cross country season, set a new championship record, and narrowly missed a national record with his time of 13:47.01 along the way. The old championship record belonged to North Central’s Dan Mayer, whose time of 13:53.17 stood as the national record for 29 years. That was until Patzka, Phillip, and UW-La Crosse’s Ethan Gregg all ran under it in the same weekend to push the long-standing record-holder to fourth in history. This trio showed the nation that they were the real deal when they swept places 1-3, all finishing under 14 minutes. It was the fastest NCAA 5k final in D3 history. Phillip gave Patzka a congratulatory hug at the end, knowing that regardless of who finished where, they had just been a part of national history.
Photo Credit: @MrAlanLam
St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith has never finished worse than fifth place at any national championship she’s been to. While an impressive resume for the D3 distance star, one thing was still missing: a national title. This weekend, Smith’s luck finally changed, but of course, it was not luck at all. Smith asserted herself as one of the most dominant competitors in women’s distance running, sweeping the 5k and 3k and earning national track athlete of the year for her performances.
Cross country runners-up U of Chicago showcased their depth in the women’s 5k, landing three All-Americans in this single event: Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Katarina Birimac, and Frances Schaeffler.
Photo Credit: @KyleLauff
Part of the concurrent beauty and intimidation of the national meet is in the notion that anything can happen. For every underdog victory, there’s an offsetting devastation. Such was unfortunately the case for the men’s 4x400-meter squad of Rowan, who set a blistering national record of 3:10.09 in this event during the regular season. A detrimental baton drop in the relay prelim prevented Rowan from advancing to Saturday’s final and giving the people the relay showdown they were all hoping for. A team known for their tenacious and competitive spirit, however, the revenge tour outdoors is one you’re going to want to follow.
Everyone knew that the men’s DMR was going to be a highly sought-out event after the D3 all-time lists saw 18 total team additions to them during the regular season. Leading the field was the national record-setting team of Loras, whose mid-season 9:39.80 broke John Carroll’s prior national record from last year. Coming in at No. 4 all-time were the men from SUNY Geneseo, who ran a slightly different squad than their all-time team. As a result, they were going to have steep competition from Johns Hopkins, who was the highest team on the all-time list to run the same lineup with which they made the all-time list. In an exhilarating last-leg battle between Geneseo’s Nicky Andrews and Hopkins’s Matthew Kleiman, Geneseo came out victorious by a narrow 0.05 seconds. They set a new championship record with their time of 9:48.39 and led eight additional teams under the previous record.
Photo Credit: @KyleLauff
It was clear early on that the women’s DMR would be a three-team race. The players? WashU, SUNY Geneseo, and somewhere only a few seconds back, U of Chicago. WashU and Geneseo handed off together up front after the 1200 leg. Geneseo’s Erin Eivers created a lead in the 400-meter leg with a 56-second split, leaving even spacing between them and WashU and WashU and Chicago. As the 800-legs took the baton, the playing field evened again: WashU and Geneseo would hand off at the same time again, the fate of the team in the hands of their milers. Chicago creeped closer after a big 2:10-leg from Claudia Harnett, but still remained a few seconds back. As milers Windsor Ardner of Geneseo, Aoife Dunne of Wash U, and Maddie Kelly of U of Chicago began their eight-lap campaign, the DMR title was still anyone’s to snag. In a nail-biting finish, all three teams crossed the finish line at 11 minutes and 35 seconds: Dunne, Kelly (with a massive 4:49 split), Ardner. WashU celebrated their relay team title and D3 season-best time.
Photo Credit: @MrAlanLam
If you have been following along at all this season, you know the players to watch out for. You’ve seen their faces on your Instagram feed along with sweeping titles reading “national record” in our signature D3GD font. One such athlete is Carthage’s Joseph White. In the regular season, White twice broke the men’s weight throw national record previously held by now-professional thrower Sean Donnelly of Mount Union. His toss of 21.92 meters was so far it barely fit within the confines of the throws arena. He came into the NCAA meet as the favorite in both throwing events and proved why when he swept the weight throw and shot put titles. His winning toss in the weight throw of 21.41 meters is the No. 2 farthest throw in championship history and his winning shot put toss of 18.47 is No. 4 in championship history. He was named national men’s field athlete of the year. Listen to us catch up with White after his big weekend here.
Photo Credit: NicoKlementzos
Many come into the national meet with the glimmer of hope that they will leave a national champion. For some, this dream is more realistic, and for others it can sometimes seem like a distant fairytale. The fairytale came true last weekend for Carnegie Mellon’s Elizabeth Barre, who came into the meet seeded ninth and left as a national champion. Barre finished seventh in this event last year, which was previously her highest finish ever at a national meet, but left Birmingham with one national title and one fourth-place All-American honor in the women’s high jump, both higher finishes than her previous performances.
A similar Cinderella story took place in this event for River Falls’s Lexi LeFever. You might recognize this name as the three-time All-American long jumper who took runner-up in this event in 2021. This time around, however, LeFever came to the national meet in a different event: the indoor pentathlon. In only the third ever pentathlon of her career, LeFever walked away as a seventh-place All-American.
Photo Credit: @KyleLauff
Johns Hopkins Victoria Kadiri splashed onto the national scene last indoor championships when she became Johns Hopkins’s first ever women’s indoor national champion after winning the long jump. Since then, Kadiri has become a force to be reckoned with sweeping both horizontal jumping events outdoors last year, repeating the same feat again this year indoors, and now setting a new national record in the women’s triple jump. Her leap of 13.18 meters is the farthest any D3 athlete has ever jumped in this event indoors or outdoors. Only her and now-professional triple jumper Alexa Wandy have marks at 13 meters or better in this event in D3 collegiate history.
Photo Credit: NicoKlementzos
It was an emotional weekend for Oshkosh’s Jonathan Wilburn, who came into the men’s triple jump competition ready to defend his 2022 title. He was successful in this endeavor until the last leap of finals when Rochester’s Cole Goodman moved into the lead with his final jump of 15.39 meters, a 15-centimeter lead. Wilburn responded, bettering his previous mark of 15.23 meters by a full 33 centimeters to take back his title. When the official read his mark, Wilburn erupted with celebratory emotion. His jump is No. 5 in D3 history.
Photo Credit: @MrAlanLam
The men’s 60-meter hurdles saw a new national champion in Nebraska Wesleyan’s Eli Etherton, who took the victory over both last year’s defending champion Kenneth Wei and this year’s runner up Jackson Ekiyor of Bethel by an astonishing 0.001 seconds.
Gustavus Adolphus’s Birgen Nelson claimed the first championship record of the day on Saturday with her blistering 8.39 seconds over the women’s 60-meter hurdles. She beat the rest of the field by a whole tenth of a second, a large margin over 60 meters. Her time of 8.33 from the U.S. Championships earlier this season set a new D3 national record. She ran under the previous D3 record four times this year.
Photo Credit: @KyleLauff
Bridgewater’s Adalia Coleman successfully defended her 60-meter national title in dominating fashion, running a time of 7.54, almost a full tenth ahead of the next finisher. Coleman placed fourth in the 100-meter dash outdoors last year, a performance that fueled her victory and will continue to keep her motivated into the outdoor season.
The men’s mile, though historically known to be tactical in championship settings, got out at an honest four-flat pace with several key players in the mix. They were led by MIT’s Ryan Wilson, who owns the national record in this event with his 3:55.29, and is a two-time national champion in the 800-meters. Having never raced a mile at nationals before, Wilson scratched from the 800-meters to tackle the new challenge of becoming a mile national champion. He was successful in his endeavor, winning in a new-championship record-setting time of 4:02.62 and dragging three more men under the previous record: Pomona-Pitzer’s Bennett Booth-Genthe, Geneseo’s Ezra Ruggles, and Swarthmore’s Aidan Cantine.
Photo Credit: @MrAlanLam
You may recognize Cantine’s name from his Centennial Conference Championship victory in the mile, in which he closed in a 56-second last 400 meters and 27-second last 200 meters. This was his first ever national meet in track and he walked away a fourth-place All-American with a new mile PR of 4:05.36.
Emory’s Annika Urban took down a legendary record in the women’s mile. The previous championship record of 4:43.92 was held by Wartburg’s Missy Buttry, an 18-thime D3 All-American and 14-time national champion. Urban, in a gutsy race where she overtook Carleton’s Clara Mayfield at 1k in, ran to what looked like an effortless victory and her first national title. Behind her, Hope’s Ana Tucker also dipped under 4:50, posting the fifth fastest time in D3 championship history.
The men’s 800-meter run saw a new championship record-holder in Loras’s Mike Jasa, who won his first indoor national title in a time of 1:49.30. Behind him, Lynchburg’s Tor Hotung-Davidsen took runner-up, and Wabash’s Haiden Diemer-McKinney, a true freshman, took third after entering the meet as the No. 16 seed.
WashU’s Emma Kelley, despite having an 800-meter PR of 2:06, had never won a national title in the 800-meters. After two back-to-back runner-up finishes to Messiah’s Esther Seeland, who set the championship record in this event last year, Kelley finally earned her gold. She posted two impressive results, running a controlled 2:08 in the prelim and a new lifetime PR of 2:06.62 in the final, the fourth fastest indoor women’s 800 in D3 history and third fastest in championship history. To sweeten the pot, Kelley’s teammate, Aoife Dunne came across the finish line in runner-up position with a new PR of 2:08.65. The pair were the only two to run under 2:10 and they accomplished it together. They celebrated with hugs at the finish line.
Ramapo’s Cheick Traore could not be stopped this weekend. Every time he stepped on the track, jaws dropped around the country. He started the day winning his first national title in the 400-meter dash. He blasted a time of 46.85 seconds, the No. 2 fastest time D3 history only to UWL’s Andrew Rock, an Olympic gold medalist. Rock and Traore are the only men in D3 history to run under 47 seconds in the indoor 400 meters. Traore did not stop there. In an exciting head-to-head battle with Blaskowski in the 200-meter dash final, Traore pulled away to set a new national record of–are you sure you’re ready for this?--20.72! He shattered Blaskowski’s previous national record by 0.4 seconds and became the first man in D3 history to dip under 21 seconds in the indoor 200. You may recall that Ramapo also had the first man to go under 4 minutes in the mile in 2018 graduate Jeremy Hernandez, making them a program of historical firsts.
It was an emotional day for Mount Union’s Kenadee Wayt, who won her first ever national title in the women’s 200-meter dash on Saturday. She cruised to victory in heat one, winning in a time of 24.31, and then had a tense couple of minutes follow as she waited for the times coming out of heat two. When UWL’s Emma Lawrence crossed the finish line to win heat two in 24.44, Wayt realized she would be a national champion. Tears poured from her eyes as she looked on at her support team in astonishment for what she had just accomplished.
If there’s anything we know for certain in modern-day men’s distance racing, it’s that UWL’s Ethan Gregg is going to take the race out honestly. He had done just that in the fall, a fearless Wisconsonite braving the cold with split shorts and gloveless hands, and had done it once more the previous night in the 5k. It was no surprise, then, when he employed the same tactics in the 3k final Saturday evening. Like in cross, he had put a sizeable separation on the field, clicking off comfortable 32-second laps. Unlike cross, there was not 8,000-meters of ground for his competitors to catch up. A late move from John Carroll’s Phillip and MIT’s Ryan Wilson would not be enough, as Gregg crossed the finish line of lap 15 in the same position he’d been in on lap one: first place. His mouth dropped open as he realized he had just won his first national title. He was met with celebration by Blaskowski, who gave an excited shake to the astonished Gregg, almost as if to try to bring him back to reality from the cloud he was floating high above on.
Gregg set a new championship record with his time of 8:01.23. Not even a championship record was enough to become an All-American in this event, as 9 athletes dipped under the previous record.
St. Benedict’s Smith got back on the track to win her second national title in the 3k. She set a new championship record of 9:25.62 en route, and pulled runner-up Maddie Kelly of U Chicago under the previous record as well. Emory’s Urban took third after a huge effort in the mile earlier in the day.
With Rowan out of the men’s 4x400 relay final, the battle for the title was a toss-up. The victors proved to be SUNY Geneseo, who ran 3:11.64 in heat one, a new championship record. Mount Union ran under the previous record from heat two but it was not enough to take the win from Geneseo, who swept both relay events this past weekend. Four teams ran under the championship record in this event.
Photo Credit: @MrAlanLam
The women’s 4x400 relay teams of Rochester and Loras pushed each other to the line in heat one of the finals. Both teams ran under the previous championship record, and both teams waited anxiously to see if it would be enough to better the teams in heat two. When no team from heat two proved to be faster, Rochester became the national champions and Loras the runners-up. Rochester’s time of 3:44.84 is the second fastest relay performance in D3 history.
As the meet concluded and the final points poured in, it was evident that UW-La Crosse would sweep both titles. Their men beat MIT by half a point despite their 4x400-meter relay getting DQed, and their women beat runner-up WashU by a comfortable 5.5 points. The men’s podium teams were MIT, Geneseo, Loras, and the women’s were WashU, Loras, and Johns Hopkins. Loras also left Birmingham with two team trophies. (Hopefully they left a little extra space in their luggage).
The 2023 indoor national championships was again, quite literally, one for the books. In an age of track and field where historical performances are met with skepticism over shoe and track technology, it was inspiring to watch athletes push themselves and their competitors around them to some of the best performances in NCAA championship history. Perhaps with all the skepticism, they see that they have something extra to prove: they deserve their spots in history, too. For it is the embodied spirit of D3 to prove the skeptics wrong.