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What happens when the world deprives 40 of College Park’s best and most fiendish athletes of NIRCA Track Nats for three years? 

We wake up and pile into a bus on a Friday morning, ride for 10 straight hours, sleep, and then we THROW DOWN!

We start as day one of NIRCA track nationals 2022 wound down. I found myself talking with Elizabeth Allsopp, a relatively new member of club running, during the seemingly infinite heats of the men’s 1500. Perplexed as to why I had a notebook with details about every single club member’s activities during the day. I explained that I’m injured and instead of competing I am writing a recap about the meet. Her immediate response was “Is anyone even gonna read it?” So despite my confidence being in pieces I present the recap for track nats 2022.

NIRCA Track Nats has held a mystical place inside my mind over the past three years I have been part of the club. I had yet to experience it all the while I heard countless stories of it being sort of a meme. Some say it is because it is too early in the season to matter and some say it’s just part of the meme that is NIRCA. Regardless, I know track nats hold a special place in many club alumni’s hearts and the few current members who have been present in the past. At the same time it has only been a figure of imagination for many of the club’s current members. Despite injuring myself two weeks before nationals I was determined to make the most of my first track nats. So I embraced the spectator role and tried to view as many events as I could.

Before we get into the recaps I want to preface a few things. Unfortunately due to the questionable layout of the venue I did miss a few events, but they will still be covered. If somebody reads this and doesn’t see their event well sorry I tried my best. Feel free to tell me and I can try to edit it (I think I can at least, WordPress is weird). Most of the information is from notes during the meet, talking with people and athletes themselves, as well as stalking on strava. So if there is something wrong in here again feel free to let me know and I will edit it.

A perfect place to start is with Elizabeth’s post race interview. Amid the usual pre race butterflies Elizabeth found herself wondering if a 200 is halfway around the track. Being an avid swimmer, Elizabeth mistakenly asked someone “what are we swimming?” Reassured by her teammates, Elizabeth soon started her very first 200. Almost without warning Elizabeth found herself running. She noted the cool air hitting her face and people stretching out beyond her. As she came around the curve she worried about people seeing her and internally or externally, which one remains unclear, expressed herself with an “ahhhhh.” As Frankie with the camera came into view she realized that the finish line was still very far away. Unfortunately, Elizabeth could not see the clock as she finished. Elizabeth finished her very first 200, which I qualify as a PR, with a time of 37.85s. 

100 Meter Dash

Earlier in the day the very first athlete to compete was Ben Griffith in the 100m dash. In heat two Ben managed fourth place with a time of 14.07s. During a post race interview Ben expressed his distaste for the start, but he was able to make up for it throughout the race. Ben’s main goal was to be “here and have fun and I had fun!” 

Women’s Shot Put

Next we move to some field events where the field athlete’s very successful weekend started. Sofia Grossman and Savannah Sitler both achieved all-american status in their women’s shot put competition. Savannah set a new PR with a mark of 6.69m which was good for 8th place. Nate Lieske described it as a “dominant performance.” Sofia’s best mark came in at 8.64m and good enough for 6th place. A combined total of 4 points helped the lady terps get off to a great start! These marks look to be good for first and second place on the club record, but I cannot confirm this due to the unknown current state of the website and/or webmaster.

Women’s 5000

Lillian “The Time Bandit” Hsu complete with four watches was next to compete in the women’s 5000. With the help of a crazy kick from 200 out Lillian was able to achieve a time of 20:52. Despite being displeased with the time, Lillian was considering it a miracle she was able to finish based on how she felt the night before. Even though she may not have PRed she definitely took home the most watches worn in a race award. Also in the women’s 5000 was club president Diana Liepinya running a time of 19:36. Diana was very pleased with her race and noted that she enjoyed having people to run with.

Women’s 200 Meter Dash

Up on the track next, other than speed, was the women’s 200. In this race were Rachel, Elizabeth, Simela, Savannah, and Lila. Up first in heat 1 was Savannah, fresh off her all-american shot put, and Simela Arnold. Savannah and Simela ran times of 34.73s and 32.83s, respectively. During the post race interview co-200 runner Elizabeth was very complimentary of Simela. However, her other co-200 runner Rachel made fun of her. In heat 2 we have Rachel George who ran a 34.17s. In her post race interview she adamantly noted that she would no longer be pursuing sprinting. Finally, in heat 3 Lila Coffman ran a 29.57s which was enough for her to qualify for the women’s 200 semi-finals!

Men’s Shot Put

We had another all-american performance coming from the field athletes. This time courtesy of Henry Sheppard. In Henry’s first outdoor shot put with the club he broke the club record and then proceeded to break it again. With a mark of 11.07m Henry achieved second place in the men’s shot put plus a total of 8 points for the men’s team. However, Henry’s record setting day was just getting started. 

Men’s 200 Prelims

Next on the track was Clay Buckman and Dominick Cardone in the men’s 200m dash. In heat 8 Dom ran a 24.57s. Clay won heat 6 with a time of 23.60s which placed him into the men’s 200 semi-finals! 

Men’s 4×800

With the club record in sight, our men’s 4×800 team took to the track with high hopes. This super team consisted of Max Worley, Brian McCullough, Konrad Shire, and Chris Scalzi. While the club record remains unbroken they managed a strong effort placing them into the all-american category. Their time of 8:12.45 was enough for 7th place, 2 points, and the second fastest men’s 4×800 in club history! 

Men’s 5000

The men’s 5000 decided to be a machine today producing 5 PRs for our athletes. Getting us started was Adam Cullen who ran a 21:37. Two notable kicks from Tim Chu and Andrew Cullen, Adam’s brother, helped them pass the competition and helped Tim PR with a time of 18:53. Andrew finished just in front of Tim at 18:49, a track 5000 PR for Andrew. Club favorite Jacob Bush was another one of our runners with a PR of 17:13. Zach “Hot-Take Factory” Kiedrowski made his presence known with a PR of 17:43. Vice President Sohan Ganatra, with the weight of the world on his shoulder as any ex-club vice president can relate to, ran a time of 16:48. Today’s best 5000 effort came from Sam Fields with a massive 40 second PR giving people in the top two heats, which were run on day 2, a run for their money. Cracking into the top 40 athletes Sam ran a time of 16:05. Notably quiet, I took to strava to find how Sam felt about his performance. In a quintessentially Sam way, he “felt great” about it.

Men’s Discus

Back to the field events we had Henry back at it competing in the men’s discus. Looking to break his own club record and set a new PR, Henry took control of the field and never looked back. Henry matched his PR and the current club record with a throw of 37.37m. This effort took home first place in the men’s shot put and 10 points for the men’s team.

Women’s 400 Meter Dash

The lady terps had another strong showing in the 400 from Rachel George, Anna Schauermann, and Lila Coffman. Both in heat 2 Rachel and Anna ran times of 1:17.97 and 1:12.82. Rachel thinks her race could have been better, but also could have been worse. Anna thought she got out too fast. Regardless they both had strong races. Just after qualifying for the women’s 200m semi-finals Lila had another very successful race. Lila ran a time of 1:08.36 which was just 2 places out of all-american status.

Men’s 400 Meter Dash

Similarly the men’s team also had a very successful 400m dash. First up in heat 3 Andrew Scalese made his outdoor debut running a time of 1:07. Next up was another club favorite Frankie Andrews. Frankie ran his 400m in a time of 1:00.58. Frankie described his 400m as “awful, not a lot of fun.” But, Frankie did achieve his goal and challenged the great Ricky Bobby saying, “If you’re not last you’re first.” Our final two athletes in the 400m dash were Clay and Dom. Dom had a strong performance running a 52.09s. This put him just one place out of all-american status. Clay had another all-american performance with a time of 51.01s. Clay placed 4th and scored 5 more points for the men’s team. 

Women’s 1500

Taking the track next was the women’s 1500. Lillian and Anna were back on the track to compete for the lady terps. Anna crossed the line with a time of 6:03 which was a season best for her. With only one watch this time Lillian ran a time of 5:59.

Men’s 1500

Now the men’s team tried their luck in the 1500m. We had a total of 14 athletes in the men’s 1500. Ben Griffith went into the race with a goal of running his first sub 6 1500. Having no experience in the 1500, Ben was excited to run a “free PR.” His goal was achieved with a time of 5:54. In a post race interview Ben was “hype, but the last 100 was comparable to Ohio. Ben had some other stuff to say but unfortunately I could not read my own handwriting. It was something along the lines of thanking Sebs and being hype about sub 6. The next finisher was Andrew Scalese. Andrew used his speed from his earlier 400 to run a time of 5:37. Not even missing his heat to use the bathroom could stop Tim Chu from running his 5:03. Tim knows he can do better but was happy with this effort given running the 5000 earlier in the day. Andrew Cullen was our next finisher with a time of 5:01 which was a new PR! Placing back to back were Nate Lieske and Zach Kiedrowski who ran times of 4:59.52 and 4:49.37. Nate was able to out kick two other athletes and Zach wasn’t expecting much after PRing in the 5000 earlier. Matthew “Nicest Guy Around*” *Not When In Gatlinburg, TN Sebsibe was next to finish the men’s 1500 with a time of 4:47. Even with limited training this could possibly be a PR. Jacob “Your Mom’s Favorite Club Runner” Bush finished his 1500 with a new PR of 4:47. Fresh off his massive 5000 performance, Sam Fields ran a time of 4:35.70. Finishing just one place in front of Sam was Lucas “Cap” Labuff with a time of 4:35.60. Nick Gonzalez was the next to PR with a time of 4:27. In a post race interview Nick described his race. Nick noted that he went out too fast and was worried about the rest of the race. But just like your Mom he thought of Jacob Bush and some primal instinct took over pushing him forward. Since Nick had done no speed work leading up to this race he was very happy with his performance. Seeded at 4:20.69 Brian Lau was the next athlete to finish the 1500. Brian was happy with his time of 4:23 noting that there was a definite room for improvement in racing strategy. Next was Jake Muma running some sort of PR. I am not really sure what type of PR he was talking about. His strava mentioned a SR, unofficial PR, and a “huge” meet PR. Not sure how you can have a meet PR at nationals as a freshmen, but I am probably just misunderstanding. Regardless, Jake finished with a time of 4:17. Finally, our last finisher for the men’s 1500 was Brian McCullough. With a time of 4:06 Brian was just one place out of all-american status. 

Women’s and Men’s 200 Semi-Finals

The two final events of the day were the women’s and men’s 200m semi-finals. After running a time of 29.57s in the preliminaries, Lila Coffman doubled down with a time of 28.68s. This put her just one place out of qualifying for the finals on day two. Clay Buckman ran a time of 23.46s which put him just three places back from qualifying for finals. 

After a day filled with all-americans, PRs, and many strong efforts we headed back to the hotel to get warm and rest up for day two. 

I’ll leave all the touchy feely stuff for the day 2 recap.