2014 Camel City Elite Race Recaps

2014 Race Recaps

Women’s Mile

With the help of the initial Camel City Crowd Fund, the women’s mile was added to the slate of events for the 2014 edition. It was somewhat late notice, so we were unable to secure any collegiate entries into the field. As a result, only six professional runners toed the line to compete for prize money of $2000/$1000/$500.

Heidi Gregson of Furman Elite was the designated pacemaker, and she took the field out in 2:16. Unfortunately, the race turned tactical and she had a 15-20 meter lead when she stepped off the track at 800m. Sara Vaughn of Brooks ID sat in the back of the pack for much of the race. Around 800m, she moved from fifth to third, and then sat there until 300m to go. At that point, she moved to the lead with a move that was not countered by Garcia or Bush. Vaughn would go on to win by a little over 3 seconds to set the new facility record.

1. Vaughn, Sara – Brooks ID – 4:35.07 ($2000)
2. Bush, Nicole – New Balance/Furman Elite – 4:38.18 ($1000)
3. Garcia, Stephanie – New Balance/Furman Elite – 4:38.60 ($500)
4. Mergaert, Amanda – Oiselle – 4:42.74
5. Browning, Charlotte – Ragged Mtn Elite – 4:46.92
— Gregson, Heidi – Furman Elite – DNF

Men’s Mile

The second year of the Camel City Elite portion of the meet saw the addition of the women’s mile and men’s and women’s 800 and 3k races. The men’s mile had prize money of $1500/$750/$375 and a $500 bonus for breaking 4:00. The 2014 race saw the first NCAA qualifier in the mile, as Isaac Presson’s 4:02.28 converted to 3:59.23 and garnered him the last qualifying spot into the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor T&F Championships.

Donnie Cowart handled the pacemaking duties for the second year in a row, and again took the field through 1k around 2:28. This year, Michael Hammond of Furman Elite was on his shoulder for the first 5 laps. When Cowart stepped off the track, Hammond had about 10-15 meters on Riley Masters in second, with Grimster in third and Phillips in fourth. By 1300m, Masters had taken the lead, with Phillips to overtake Hammond for second shortly thereafter.

With a lap to go, the order was Masters-Phillips-Elliott, but Masters would get outkicked over the last lap. Further back, Presson, who started out dead last on the first two laps, would gradually climb through the field. Phillips overtook Masters for the lead with a little less than 100m left in the race and raised his arms triumphantly as he crossed the finish line.

Presson’s efforts would get him his NCAA qualifier. Just behind him, Mount Olive’s Dylan Lafond would earn himself an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark.

1. Phillips, Duncan – Unattached – 4:00.94 ($1500)
2. Elliott, Matthew – Brooks – 4:01.50 ($750)
3. Masters, Riley – Brooks Beasts – 4:01.77 ($375)
4. Presson, Isaac – North Carolina – 4:02.28 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
5. Lafond, Dylan – Mount Olive – 4:05.53 (NCAA D2 qualifier)
6. Schulist, Chris – Campbell – 4:08.11
7. Hammond, Michael – Furman Elite – 4:09.68
8. Holden, Simon – Wake Forest – 4:10.05
9. Grimster, Kane – Auburn – 4:10.10
— Cowart, Donald – Crazy Running – DNF

Women’s 3k

When the original field was assembled for the inaugural women’s Camel City 3k, we had no prize money available, but a group from Brooks Beasts were interested in coming out and trying to get an IAAF World indoor qualifier of 9:02.00. As the Camel City Crowd Fund gained momentum, we were able to raise enough money to pay $2000/$1000/$500, but we didn’t have funds for a rabbit.

At the start of the race, Jessica Tebo assumed the leadership duties and would open up a small gap on the field in the first 200m. Tebo would lead for the first 7 laps before getting caught by Deb Maier around 1400m. Tebo would continue to lead for 7 more laps, at which point Maier would take over with 1 lap to go. Maier would kick home and win by nearly 2 seconds over the last 200m.

A little further back, a great race was developing for the top collegian in the field as LeHardy from North Carolina and Bottorff from Duke would wage a great battle, with LeHardy prevailing at the end.

1. Maier, Deb – Brooks Beasts – 9:02.79 ($2000)
2. Tebo, Jessica – Brooks Beasts – 9:04.52 ($1000)
3. Bracy, Addie – Brooks ID – 9:13.86 ($500)
4. LeHardy, Annie – North Carolina – 9:16.56
5. Bottorff, Juliet – Duke – 9:18.88
6. Cheever, Jamie – Brooks Beasts – 9:19.21
7. Callahan, Maggie – HTS Elite – 9:20.86
8. Graves, Carmen – Roanoke Valley Elite – 9:21.69
9. Bizzarri, Angela – Brooks Beasts – 9:28.45
10. D’Alessio, Lauren – Samford – 9:39.75
11. Jones, Samantha – Wake Forest – 9:44.99
— Frazier, Wesley – Unattached – DNF

Men’s 3k

With $1200 on the line for the winner, Craig Forys of Furman Elite would sit right behind his teammate and pacer Rob Finnerty. Ty McCormack of Auburn would sit behind them with Bobby Mack of Reebok a little further back in the pack. As the race would progress, Forys, McCormack and Mack would separate themselves from the rest of the competitors.

When Finnerty dropped off at 1600m, McCormack went to the lead and started to push the pace, followed by Forys, Mack and Buhner. They would drop Buhner and separate themselves over the next 1400m. McCormack would establish as much as a 10-15m lead over Forys and Mack. Forys would take the lead back with 1 lap to go, as the hot pace would prove too much for McCormack. Mack would pass McCormack on the backstretch, but he would run out of room in his attempt to catch Forys.

McCormack would ultimately settle in #23 on the TFRRS list for NCAA qualifiers. Meanwhile, Felix Duchampt of Queens University in Charlotte would qualify for the NCAA D2 meet with his time, which put him #3 in the country for D2 athletes.

1. Forys, Craig – Furman Elite – 7:58.07 ($1200)
2. Mack, Bobby – Reebok – 7:59.98 ($400)
3. McCormack, Ty – Auburn – 8:01.60
4. Walling, Ryan – North Carolina – 8:06.79
5. Duchampt, Felix – Queens (NC) – 8:11.26 (NCAA D2 qualifier)
6. Gilmer, Lee – Furman Elite – 8:11.55
7. Rose, Alexander – Wake Forest – 8:13.39
8. Buhner, Niklas – Auburn – 8:14.11
9. Given, Wilkerson – Furman Elite – 8:14.58
10. Hudgins, Brandon – Unattached 8:17.48
11. Smith, Jacob – High Point – 8:19.26
12. Terer, Amon – Campbell – 8:19.41
13. Morgan, Scott – North Carolina – 8:27.36
14. Szalai, Benji – High Point – 8:27.81
— Finnerty, Rob – Furman Elite – DNF

Women’s 800

The inaugural year of the women’s 800 at Camel City Elite was the closest finish we have seen in any Camel City Elite race, as Heather Kampf and Phoebe Wright were separated by only 0.01 of a second. With $2000 on the line thanks to the Camel City Crowd Fund, all the cards were on the table.

Ericka Charles handled the pacemaking duties in this one. Kampf and Wright would pace the pacer just after 400m and start to separate themselves from the rest of the field. Kampf and Wright would run 1-2 the entire race. Coming off the final turn, Wright made a final push for the line but it wasn’t enough as Kampf held her off for the win.

A little further back, Elizabeth Whelan of North Carolina would finish fourth in 2:07.03, which converted to 2:05.59 for NCAA qualifying purposes. She would ultimately qualify for NCAAs in this race and the mile, but would elect to race the mile at NCAAs instead.

1. Kampf, Heather – Asics/Team USA MN – 2:04.28 ($2000)
2. Wright, Phoebe – Nike – 2:04.29 ($1000)
3. Wallace, Lauren – Oiselle – 2:06.99 ($500)
4. Whelan, Elizabeth – North Carolina – 2:07.03 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
5. Vessey, Maggie – Unattached – 2:09.78
6. Mungo, T’Sheila – Charlotte – 2:12.21
7. White, Layla – Unattached – 2:16.27
8. Miller, Rachel – Charlotte – 2:17.68
9. Charles, Ericka – Speed Factory – 2:18.31

Men’s 800

The 2014 race was an exciting affair, as Nick Symmonds was pushed to the line by collegian Eliud Rutto of Middle Tennessee State. Coming in, Nick was clearly the favorite in this race. It would also serve as Nick’s first race in his new Brooks Beasts uniform.

The rabbit, Logan Roberts, took the pace out in 53 seconds for the first 400m before stepping off the track. At that point, Cas Loxsom of Brooks Beasts took over until he was passed at 600m by both Symmonds and Rutto. Symmonds would win by 0.34 of a second over Rutto. Rutto’s 1:48.98 would convert to 1:47.45 and tie him for #2 on the NCAA D1 qualifying list. Symmonds would pick up $1500 for the win, but would miss out on the $500 bonus for breaking 1:48.

1. Symmonds, Nick – Brooks Beasts – 1:48.64 ($1500)
2. Rutto, Eliud – Mid Tenn State – 1:48.98 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
3. Wieczorek, Mark – Brooks Beasts – 1:49.66 ($750)
4. Loxsom, Casimir – Brooks Beasts – 1:50.14 ($375)
5. Bojanowski, Thomas – Wake Forest – 1:51.18
6. Hazouri, Brandon – Samford – 1:51.64
7. Hendershot, Nathan – Samford – 1:51.95
— Roberts, Logan – Unattached – DNF