2024 D3 Track and Field Nationals Key Takeaways
Another incredible national meet has come and gone.
We again asked the D3 Glory Days team for their reactions or takeaways from the meet.
Here’s what they had to say:
Alex Predhome
My first takeaway is that this championship reminds us of the oldest axiom in sports: that anything can happen. You can draft up all the scenarios and math equations, but this isn't scripted.
This is why I love upsets like that women’s 5,000. Now, to be fair, Faith Duncan had shown this past indoor that she was a contender when she collected an all-American finish in the 3,000. However, I think very few had her defeating the two titans in this field, Grace Hadley and Fiona Smith. If it came down to credentials on paper, a script writer might hand Fiona Smith her 5th straight victory or maybe they give Grace Hadley another national title. However, Faith Duncan made all of our jaws drop when she shoved the math in our faces with a ferocious last 3 laps. Fiona Smith’s undefeated streak for national championships ended and now everyone will remember the name Faith Duncan. Where else did we see this? The men’s high jump. Jackson Bliey from MIT, who came into this championship seeded at 11th in a loaded men's high jump field, rose to the occasion (literally), and set a big PB of 2.14m (7-0 ¼) to win his first outdoor title.
But on the top of upsets, I can’t help but bring up the men’s shot put because that was a great example of a favorite coming back. Just because you’ve won and then lost doesn’t mean the Empire can’t strike back. Joseph White has a few titles on his resume, but he’s been challenged a few times by Eau Claire’s Yakob Ekoue, who defeated him both in last year’s outdoor and this past indoor meet. This championship saw him come roaring back with an answer, posting an 18.69-meter mark to take back the title.
The other thing I was struck by was how the energy of this meet was powered by teamwork and the impact of others when you look more closely. You could look at Grace Alley and Sara Hoskins going 1-2 in the high jump in both indoor and outdoor and, being in the same event, see how they help each other succeed through competing. You could look at athletes like Emma Kelley leveraging their abilities in as many events as possible to maximize team points. And of course, you could look at the WIAC rivalries that lead to blistering kicks, finish line dives, and University of Wisconsin memes.
All are inspiring, but the one I thought was most touching was Sam Llaneza winning the men’s 1500-meter title for Lynchburg. It was a phenomenal execution of a race, but it was more than just points, victories, or rivalries. I have to believe that that meant something special for Lynchburg in the aftermath of Frank Csorba’s recent passing. We know that they've been building a great culture, one that Frank played a big part in and one that yielded a DMR national title this past indoor season. When I saw that 1500-meter final, I saw a community brave enough to navigate an extremely challenging time and show the nation that the positive effects of Frank Csorba will echo into the future.
Those are the aspects I love to see in track. This is the sport I love.
Cirrus Robinson
Myrtle Beach was a swan song for some of our greats in Division 3 Field. Over the course of the weekend, I couldn’t help but think about what this group of seniors leaves behind in the rings, pits, and sand.
Victoria Kadiri was crowned her ninth national title on Saturday, establishing herself as one of the most successful Division 3 athletes of all time. Not only will she hold space on the national record board and all across the All-Time lists, but she has embodied what it means to have dominance across multiple events. Her technical consistency and confidence has allowed her to go on a hall-of-fame run in undefeated triple jumping.
Grace Alley made good on her promise to be a leader for others in the field, showing us again just how far grit will take you on meet weekend. With a back-to-back title in the pentathlon and heptathlon, her continuous improvement and tenacity in each event have added up to a true legacy for the Division 3 multi.
Rebecca Heuler’s massive 10-foot PR in the javelin allowed her to make her All-American debut at the top of the podium. Rochester’s Madeline O’Connell finished a banner year in the vault with a fourth place finish, all the while multitasking in the 400 meters to help her relay to the podium.
Platteville’s Justin Eichler’s career momentum took him to his first national title in the hammer in a great show of competitive edge. Addison Painter of Marietta climbed to 4th in the long jump this weekend in his second-ever national appearance, taking every advantage of his time left on the runway.
In each of these athletes, we see their teammates waiting in the wings. We see first-timers and underclassmen made better by performing alongside them. We see the patience and trust that it takes to have payoffs this good. While I am excited about all of the rising stars of our field events, there was something very special about this year’s sendoff.
Evan Hatton
The best weekend of the year gave us some awesome performances and storylines.
Of the 42 events this weekend, over half were won by the top seed entering the meet and 37 events were won by a top-5 seed. But that left 5 events that had “upset alert” written all over them. Congrats to Rainah Dunham (LJ), Jackson Bliey (HJ), Faith Duncan (5k), Cael Schoemann (800m), and the Wash U women’s 4x4 team for being crowned national champions even when the odds were stacked against them!
Speaking of upsets, though she was seeded third in the 1500, no one predicted that freshman Haley Schoenegge would dominate the 1500 from start to finish. What an impressive race for an emerging star.
So many thrilling moments this weekend, but the hurdle races really got my adrenaline pumping. The individual battles between Mathews vs. Sawyer in the 100-meter hurdles and then Sawyer vs. Brown in the 400-meter hurdles were legendary. Plus, Rowan’s dominance in the 110-meter hurdles and Frost’s late push in the 400-meter hurdles were worth the long rain delay.
A ton of credit goes to Patzka and Collet going 1-2 in the Steeple and 5k. The Steeple final on Friday was a major shift, and now we see how much more achievable that double is. It’s also hard not to think of Gregg when watching that 5k final and imagining him challenging Patzka for the title.
After jumping 13.04 meters on her sixth triple jump attempt of the afternoon, Victoria Kadiri became just the fourth woman currently in D3 history to own the top three outdoor marks in an event. Few have ever dominated an event as much as Kadiri has in the triple jump!
On the woman’s side, it feels like a turning of the page with this being the final D3 nationals for a whole host of legends like Kelley, Wayt, Smith, Hogue, and others. They will be missed but I am excited to see what future stars take their place in 2025 and beyond!
Noah Droddy
My main takeaway from nationals this year is that I just had a really good time watching the races. D3 track and field has some undeniable stars right now and, for the most part, when they were called upon they definitely put on a show. Blaskowski, Jarrett, Patzka, Kelley - some athletes just carried that aura that no one was going to deny them success. But we also got to see some new names, future stars who were just biding their time to rise up, like Haley Schoenegge, whose name I won’t mispronounce again.
I think it just goes to show how healthy and competitive the division is right now. I definitely walked away grateful for some of the names we’ll lose next year, but also really looking forward to what’s in the pipeline.
Emily Richards
My biggest takeaway from nationals this year is that when one person in D3 gets better, everyone gets better.
I saw so many people taking risks at nationals this year, which I believe is the result of increased depth in the division. There are still several standout names: Blaskowski, Kadiri, Jarrett, Gregory, White, Patzka, Smith, Kelley, and more. But because these people have risen to the top in D3 history, everyone behind them is rising to meet them.
Spencer Moon had never placed higher than 13th at an outdoor track and field national meet. When everyone started running under 14 minutes this season, he decided to add his name to the history books when he ran 13:51 during the season AND won his first national title in the 10k. Faith Duncan chose not to be intimidated by the name Fiona Smith and was rewarded with a national title. Eric Gregory and Kenadee Wayt raced their hearts out trying to take down favorites Blaskowski and Kelley.
The increase in depth also shows how hard it is for these standouts to be dominant for so long. Smith lost her first nationals race all year. This loss likely would have been less realistic without increased depth in the women’s 5k field from names like Grace Richardson, Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, and Faith Duncan. On the flip side, the women’s 5k field would have much less incentive to improve without seeing the fast times Smith has been posting all year. When one person rises, all of D3 rises. This aspect of the meet was my favorite part to witness.
Scott Wolter
Scott didn’t need to write up a takeaway from outdoors, because he already told you everything you needed to know about a certain “tall drink of water” in his indoor takeaway:
“How about Eric Anderson of UC-Santa Cruz? Made the most of his opportunity to compete at his first track national meet placing 2nd in the mile. It’ll be interesting to see how he attacks the outdoor season as it looks like he put more focus towards the 800 in previous seasons. He could be a factor in the 1500.”
How’s that for foreshadowing? Anderson repeated his runner-up finish, this time in the 1500. Scott also says:
I hope to see more streams of the field events in the future. The main feed can stay the same, but it would be great if we could get additional streams of the field events to give more exposure to those performances in their respective events.
Cris Gutierrez
Christian Patzka’s Double
Patzka adds another two national championships to an already impressive collegiate resume. Both races were won in fairly decisive fashion with hard moves over 1,000 meters out. His final 8:50.75 winning time is a top 20 performer all-time. He did this with a 3:08 first kilometer, then closed in sub 2:10. That’s just bonkers. His move over the last 1200 of the 5k final was just as impressive, as he comfortably closed it in 3:06.66. His season isn’t done yet as he’ll be chasing the U.S. Olympic Trials standard out west in Portland. Judging by this weekend’s performance, this may be a sign of something huge to come.
La Crosse Men’s Steeple Depth
Sticking to the steeple for a bit here, you may have noticed a couple familiar uniforms in the men’s final. UW-La Crosse had five athletes in the men’s steeple, and they made quite a splash in the final. Joey Sullivan, Adam Loenser, Jayden Zywicki, and Mason Brown went 3-5-8-9 in the final. It looks to be a young group too, so I’m sure this isn’t the last time we’re going to see them on the big stage.
Central Women’s Steeple Depth
Central had three women in the steeple final. Two were veterans at the meet and showed their experience finishing with a massive 1-2 punch in the final. Megan Johnson’s title-winning performance was good for fifth all-time, and watching her and teammate Caroline McMartin celebrate their hard fought race was great to see. But Addy Parrott said, we’re going three for three in All-Americans. She finished seventh to make it three First Team All-Americans for Central College. Not bad for a national championship debut.
Rowan Men’s 110H Depth
With four athletes in the men’s 110-meter hurdle field, Rowan was sure to be a team to look for in the final. Well. How about 1-3-4? The Prof trio of Kwaku Nkrumah, Marquise Young, and Jason Agyemang made a statement at nationals. While the trio may all have been ranked in the top 8 coming into the meet, it’s a different challenge to execute on game day.
Lauren Jarrett Goes for Gold
UW-La Crosse sophomore Lauren Jarrett wasn’t just happy with her first outdoor national championship. It wasn’t just one, not two, but three titles for Jarrett as she swept the 100, 200, and 4x100 titles over a strong field. I, for one, can’t wait to see what’s next for Jarrett as 2024 was truly a season for the books.
Women’s 400H Final
The battle between returning national champion Natalia Sawyer and D3 national record holder Ren Brown did not disappoint and was one of the highlights of the weekend. When you have to go past the second decimal point to decide a champion you know it had to have gone to the wire. With both being underclassmen we’re sure that this isn’t the last time we’ll see them battle.
Lynchburg Feels
[Queue the everybody liked that meme]
The emotion was high down the final stretch as Sam Llaneza sprinted for glory in the men’s 1500. I don’t care who you’re affiliated with; you couldn’t help but just be happy for the young man as he stretched his arms in victory and celebrated in the embrace of his Lynchburg teammates.