In the 2023 indoor season, we saw 16 D3 records get broken. Then to start the outdoor season,  the record-breaking continued when Ramapo’s Cheick Traore ran 20.49 in his outdoor season 200m debut, breaking the D3 outdoor record of 20.55 set just last year by Centre’s JP Vaught. This begs the question, what other records could be in danger of falling over the next few months? 

Men’s 100m:

• Current Record: 10.18 - Derrick Rippy – 1983

• After standing for nearly 40 years, Rippy’s 100m record is likely to be outdone in 2023. For an event so popular, the 100m D3 record board is one of the oldest with only two of the top 14 times having been run since 2014. One of these recent marks is the current No. 9 on the all-time list, UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski from when he ran 10.29 last year. Blaskowski is fresh off an exceptional indoor season where he finished fifth in the 60m at the Indoor USATF Championships, set the 60m D3 record in 6.65, and ran the second-fastest indoor 200m time in D3 history. When you combine Blaskowski’s recent indoor success (including his remarkable consistency of nine 60m races at 6.71 or faster) and his 200m range (21.13 indoors and 20.80 in 2022), it is the perfect recipe to take down the third-oldest outdoor D3 record and claim the title of fastest D3 sprinter in history. JP Vaught currently sits No. 3 All-Time after running 10.21 with just +0.6 wind last year. If we know JP, he’s going to use both his indoor season and losing his 200m record as motivation this outdoor season.

  • Editor’s note: Derrick Jackson initially broke the record last season running 10.17, however, USTFCCCA deemed it was unable to recognize it as a record due to verification issues.

Men’s 200m:

• Current Record: 20.55 - JP Vaught (Centre) – 2022   20.49 - Cheick Traore - 2023

• It seems nearly impossible for a 10-year-old record to be broken 9 times by a combined 4 individuals in a single season, but that is what happened last year to the former D3 record of 20.80 set in 2012. Not only that, but all four of these runners return for the 2023 outdoor season, which made it extremely likely the top D3 mark of 20.55 would be struck down again.

Sure enough, on March 18th, 2023, Ramapo’s Cheick Traore ran 20.49 to break the outdoor D3 200m record by 0.06 seconds. There is little doubt this record will once again be broken this year by either Traore again, Centre’s JP Vaught, Gallaudet’s Eric Gregory, or UW-LaCrosse’s Sam Blaskowski. No matter who ends up on top of the record board after the 2023 season, one certainty is the 200m final at outdoor nationals will be one heck of a race.

Traore recently expressed his interest on Twitter in breaking the all-time 400m record of 44.66 set by Andrew Rock in 2004. I suspect that record is still out of reach in 2023, but only three D3 runners have ever broken 46 seconds and I expect Traore to become the fourth. 

Men’s 800m:

• 1:47.34 – Nick Symmonds – 2006

• Of the 12 individuals who have ever broken 1:48.7 outdoors, no one has ever done it twice, making it one of the few top 10 lists with 10 different names. In steps Ryan Wilson, someone absent from the current outdoor list and last year’s D3 800m champion. Wilson ran 1:46.61 this indoor season to break the 11-year indoor D3 record. It seems likely that Wilson can again run 1:46 outdoors, but it may be harder than it seems- the former D3 indoor 800m record holder Ben Scheetz ran 1:47.8 indoors then never broke 1:50 again. And before Scheetz, Clive Terrelonge held the indoor D3 record of 1:47.87 but couldn’t break it again outdoors. I still presume Wilson is able to break 1:47 again outdoors, but it may be harder than it seems.

  • Editor’s note: Nick Symmonds ran 1:45.83 the summer of his senior year at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Willamette recognizes this as their school record. The Historian Report recognizes this as well. However, USTFCCCA does not recognize it as the record as it came after the collegiate season was over. It should be noted that Symmonds didn’t represent Willamette at these championships as he wore his high school singlet.

Men’s 1500m

• 3:41.21 – Karl Paranya – 1996

• The men’s 1500 meter run is overdue for some changes after the indoor season saw nine additions to the men’s mile all-time list, including a new national record of 3:55.29, set by none other than MIT’s Ryan Wilson. Wilson broke the previous record set last year by Williams’s Aidan Ryan, whose outdoor season following his indoor record was riddled with injury, not giving him a fair shot at posting a late-season time. His 3:45.18 from last March is No. 17 all-time and trails SUNY Geneseo returner Ezra Ruggles’s time of 3:44.9 by two spots. Ruggles, Pomona Pitzer’s Bennett Booth-Genthe, Trinity’s Travis Martin, Haverford’s Jamie Moreland, RPI’s Matt Lecky, and Eau Claire’s Sam Verkerke are all among returners who have a good shot at threatening the 1500m all-time lists, but none come close to Wilson, who showed clear dominance en route to his first mile national title indoors in a stacked field a few weeks ago. With only one 1500m time on his TFRRS profile, a lackluster 4:01.89, Wilson not only has the chance to become the fastest D3 metric miler in history, but the most improved in just a year. 

  Editor’s note: Paranya, Pomona-Pitzer’s Will Leer, and Willamette’s Nick Symmonds all ran below the in-season record in their post-seasons. Paranya’s time of 3:39.84 is the fastest time ever run by a D3 man in college and the only time under 3:40. Could Wilson join him in this feat after his killer indoor season?

Women’s 1500m

• 4:13.69 – Emily Pomainville – 2021

• In 2021, SUNY Geneseo’s Emily Pomainville took down a steep women’s 1500m national record of 4:14.2 held by the legendary Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh. Messiah’s Esther Seeland and Hopkins’s Ella Baran both tried to come close to this record last year, but both missed it by about 5 seconds (Baran’s attempt came just a few weeks after setting a new national record in the mile of 4:40.53, showing just how hard it can be to carry over momentum from the indoor mile to the outdoor 1500m). While Pomainville’s record of 4:13.69 will be an extremely tough time to take down, Emory’s Annika Urban is the most likely candidate to give it a run. Urban’s indoor national title run of 4:43.17 is the No. 2 fastest mile in D3 history, faster than that of both Cazzola and Wartburg’s Missy Buttry, two of the most prolific women’s distance runners in D3 history. Urban has already opened up her season with a 2:10 800, which likely indicates she’s gearing up some speed to make a record attempt. If she continues on the trajectory she is on, the two-year-old women’s 1500-meter record could be in danger. 

Men’s 5k:

• 13:51.4 – Dhruvil Patel – 2019

• The indoor 5k record book was re-written in 2023 with 11 of the fastest 13 times ever being run in the span of two months by seven different runners. Prior to this season, only Dan Mayer, Ian LaMere, and Alex Phillip had broken 14 minutes indoors. By the end of the season, an additional three would get under the barrier. Mayer’s former indoor record of 13:53 was broken by three runners on the same day. Christian Patkza and Ethan Gregg had their epic run on UW-Whitewater’s flat track running 13:49 and 13:52. A few hours later, Alex Phillip took down the record by running 13:44. Patzka and Phillip went on to break Dan Mayer’s record again at the national meet, running 13:47 and 13:52. This all means the current outdoor record of 13:51 is in major danger of being broken with the better question being: how many athletes can break the 13:50 barrier?

  Editor’s Note : Wheaton’s Dan Henderson ran an out-of-season best in 1978 of 13:50.0, a time that has not been broken for 45 years. Patzka and Phillip became the first athletes in D3 history to dip under the 13:50 mark in either season, and if they can replicate this feat, will become the first to do it outdoors, rendering one of them a national record holder.

Women’s 5k: 

• 15:37.5 – Missy Buttry – 2003

• Last season, Buttry’s record got its closest-ever scare from Ella Baran of Johns Hopkins, who ran 15:49 for the No. 2 fastest time in D3 history. Now, the record is in even more danger as Loras’s Kassie Parker, the 9-time track All-American and two-time cross country champion, returns for her final outdoor season after not having any indoor eligibility remaining. Though she wasn’t able to compete for Loras indoors this winter, she did run a 15:43 indoor 5k in December running unattached, proving she is in exceptional shape. Assuming she can remain injury-free her last few months as a collegiate athlete, she is primed to become just the third D3 woman to break 16 minutes outdoors (she has run 15:58 indoors) and potentially become the first D3 woman to break 15:30. 

Women’s 10k:

• 33:03 – Kassie Parker - 2022

• Last April at the Stanford Invitational, Loras’s Kassie Parker ran 33:03 to break the 19-year-old D3 10k record by nearly 20 seconds, one of the two non-relay outdoor records that were set last year. As noted in the 5k write-up, Parker returns in good shape (15:43 indoor 5k in December) and should be poised to reset her 10k record again in 2023. Maybe she will debut her 2023 track season at the Stanford Invitational in early April and set the record there like last year.

Men’s 10k:

• 28:38 – Ian LaMere – 2016

• After seeing so many indoor distance records being broken, it makes sense that the outdoor distance records are being put on life support as well. This event is already off to a hot start, as MIT’s Matthew Kearney ran 29:13 at the Raleigh Relays this past weekend, claiming the No. 7 fastest time in D3 history. Last year, John Carroll’s Alex Phillip ran 28:48 at Mt. SAC Relays to claim the No. 3 spot all-time and come within 10 seconds of the D3 record. Briefly speaking with Phillip, it sounds as though JCU will make a trip back out west to take another shot at the record. With Patzka focusing on the steeple, Ethan Gregg could be another name to look for to take a stab at the 10k record. We know Gregg prefers the longer distances and has the ability to grind out races alone. For his sake, let’s hope he gets in a hot 10k heat. 

Women’s 100H:

• 13.60 – Bridget Cochran – 1998

• Gustavus Adolphus’s Birgen Nelson rewrote the indoor hurdle records books this past season, running 6 of the 7 top 60mH indoor times in history. Others got in the mix with 21 of the top 26 times in history being run in 2023 by a combined five athletes (Nelson claiming 10 of them). This sets up for a record-breaking outdoor season. Nelson ran 13.71 last year in the 100m hurdles for the 7th fastest time ever, but expect her to shave the .11 seconds off necessary to claim the outdoor hurdle record and cement herself as the top D3 women's hurdler in history. She also already owns four of the 14 fastest times outdoors ever. It should be noted that Nelson has run 13.44w (3.1 m/s) at the outdoor championships. She’ll look to add a wind legal record this season.

Women’s 400H:

• 58.51 - Ashante Little - 2014

• Last season at outdoor nationals, Concordia Chicago’s Simone Wilson ran 58.98 for the third fastest time in D3 history and became just the fifth runner to break 59 seconds in the 400m hurdles. In second place was Birgen Nelson running 59.22 for the ninth fastest time ever followed closely by SUNY Geneseo’s Gwen Shepardson (59.74) and UW-LaCrosse’s Emma Lawrence (1:00.29). Wilson has graduated, but the other three hurdlers return for outdoors and, given Nelson’s indoor dominance, it isn’t unreasonable to think she can break this record as well. Though Nelson is the favorite to lead the event, don’t count out Lawrence, who finished second in the 200m at indoor nationals as well as split a 56.0 4x400 leg.

Men’s 3k Steeplechase

• 8:43.78 – Peter Kosgei – 2008

• Last year’s men’s steeplechase final had to be one of the most exciting races of the whole weekend. In an exhilarating final 100 meters, Wartburg’s Christopher Collet overtook Whitewater’s Christian Patzka to earn his first national title. Both return to competition this year, and after narrowly reclaiming his 5k national record indoors en route to capturing a national title, Christian Patzka is on a mission. Carleton’s Matthew Wilkinson has come the closest to taking down Kosgei’s record, his 8:44.01 from 2021 putting him No. 3 all-time behind Jim Gathje’s 8:43.93 from 1986. That year, Wilkinson took runner-up in cross and also ran 13:55 over 5k. With a mirrored cross country runner-up finish in the fall and 13:47 5k PR indoors, Patzka appears to have laid all the necessary groundwork to set himself up for a successful spring campaign. Look for Collet and Pomona-Pitzer’s Colin Kirkpatrick (No. 6 all-time) to also improve their spots in D3 history. 

Editor’s Note: Saint John’s (Minn.) Gathje ran 8:39.8 in June 1985 after the D1 NCAA championships had taken place, rendering this performance an “out-of-season best” by USTFCCCA, rather than a national record. The Historian’s Report recognizes it as the fastest performance in D3 history. When Patzka contacted us for clarification, Stu’s response was simple: “just run faster than both so there’s no question.” Knowing what we saw out of Patzka already this year, he’s ready to oblige. 

Men’s 4x400m Relay:

• 3:07.42 - Lincoln (Pa.) - 2005

• One national record we saw fall indoors this year was that of the men’s 4x400m relay. Why shouldn’t the same be true outdoors? The Rowan squad of Nana Agyemang, Jah’mere Beasley, Marquise Young, and Amara Conte posted a record time of 3:10.09, the fastest indoor relay time in D3 history by over a second. Last year, Rowan’s fastest time indoors was 3:12.80, and they went on to run 3:10.06 outdoors (No. 13 all-time). If 2.8 seconds is the margin of improvement expected out of this squad again this year, then they would be projected to run 3:07.2 outdoors, a time that would best Lincoln’s national record from 2005. In fact, the whole men’s 4x4 record books could be rewritten this year as squads from Geneseo, Mount Union, Loras, Bethel, Nebraska Wesleyan, and John Carroll all landed on the top-10 relay list indoors.

Women’s Triple Jump:

• 13.00m - Alexa Wandy – 2017

• There were a handful of dominating performances at the 2023 indoor national meet, but few match what Victoria Kadiri did in the triple jump. In her four non-foul jumps, she posted the first, second, sixth, and ninth farthest jumps in D3 history en route to her second straight triple jump national title. Her best jump of 13.18m not only beat the previous indoor record by almost half a meter but is also well ahead of the outdoor record of 13.00m from 2017. She should be able to replicate her performance outdoors to get the record and likely win both the triple and long jumps at outdoor nationals for the second year in a row.