2018 Camel City Elite Race Recaps

2018 Race Recaps

WOMEN’S 3000m

The women’s Camel City Elite 3000m presented by Visit Winston-Salem was the deepest women’s 3000m field in Camel City history.  In total, eleven women would break 9:22, including six collegians!

Sara Sutherland was originally set to defend her title, but she withdrew a few weeks before the race.  Then, Sasha Gollish also had to withdraw, which allowed space for Stephanie Brown to be added to the field.  The field was pretty much set with 4 professionals including pacer Marisa Howard.  On the morning of the race, Rachel Schneider asked if she could double and run the 3000m followed by the mile, in which she was already entered.  That would prove to be a profitable decision on Rachel’s part.

Marisa Howard was scheduled to take the field through 1600m in 4:48 and then had the option of staying in the race to collect prize money.  Final instructions from race director Craig Longhurst was that it would be better to be slow than fast and keep the collegians in the race.  Howard went through 1600 in 4:53 and there was a pack of 12 within a second or so of the leader at that point.

Rachel Johnson would take the lead at 2k as the pace would start heating up on the next few laps.  Furman’s Savannah Carnahan would take the lead at 2100m and a small breakaway group of Johnson, Brown and Schneider would follow.  Rachel Schneider would take the lead around 2300m and never relinquish it.  She would run splits of 33-34 seconds on each of her last four laps.

Over the last three laps, Schneider would continue to push the pace as Brown and Johnson would hold on to the second and third spots.  Carnahan would eventually fade back but make a huge surge at the line to move back up to 5^th place behind Elly Henes of NC State.  Collegians would finish in spots 4-10 with four collegians within a second of each other from 9:11.95 to 9:12.61.

Schneider’s 9:02.64 looked very relaxed.  She would have to come back about 25 minutes later to defend her mile title. Did she exert too much effort in this race?  She clearly could have saved some energy, as she won by almost eight seconds.

On the collegiate side, this was a very deep set of results, but unfortunately this also turned out to be one of the deepest NCAA qualifying fields in history, so none of these athletes would qualify for NCAAs.  The good news was that the top six collegians all have eligibility for next year and could conceivably return to Camel City in 2019!

1. Schneider, Rachel – Under Armour – 9:02.64 ($6000)
2. Brown, Stephanie – Unattached – 9:10.01 ($4000)
3. Johnson, Rachel – Asics Furman Elite – 9:10.54 ($2000)
4. Henes, Elly – NC State – 9:11.95
5. Carnahan, Savannah – Furman – 9:11.99
6. Ilse, Morgan – North Carolina – 9:12.18
7. Alcorta, Caroline – North Carolina – 9:12.61
8. Sang, Caroline – Charlotte – 9:18.19
9. Edwards, Sarah – Virginia Tech- 9:20.46
10. Sears, Sarah – Davidson – 9:20.92
11. Rolland, Megan – Oiselle – 9:21.99
12. Imer, Charlotte – Eastern Kentucky – 9:31.84
13. Richardson, Mikayla – Virginia Tech – 9:50.29
14. Hanle, Leah – Mount Olive – 9:59.26
15. —   Howard, Marisa – IDTC/Fleet Feet Meridian – DNF

Men’s 3000m

The men’s Camel City 3000m presented by Salem Sports had another deep field.  Paul Chelimo had indicated weeks before the race that he intended to double in the 3k and the mile, so the men’s 3k was moved to the front of the schedule to give him an extra 10-15 minutes of rest between races.

Craig Nowak was handed the reins to pace the race through 1600m in 4:12 to 4:15.  The race would quickly go single file with Nowak leading, then Chelimo, Thomas Curtin and Lawrence Kipkoech of Campbell right behind. Chelimo would take the lead shortly before 1400m and lead them through 1600m at 4:14, with a large pack of 8 men within a second or so of the lead.

Shortly after 1600m, Curtin would go to the front and lead for about 700m before Chelimo would take the lead back at 2400m.  With 400m to go there was a pack of 6 men together before Izaic Yorks would put on a surge, only to be held off by Chelimo.  Chelimo would keep the lead and run a 27.1 last 200m to hold off Izaic Yorks.

Lawrence Kipkoech would finish as the top collegian in 5^th place ahead of Kigen Chemadi of Middle Tennessee State.

Chelimo appeared to do just enough to get the win, and he would then have about 45 minutes to rest until the men’s mile.

1. Chelimo, Paul – US Army – 7:52.88 ($6000)
2. Yorks, Izaic – Brooks Beasts – 7:53.54 ($4000)
3. Curtin, Thomas – Saucony Freedom TC – 7:54.71 ($2000)
4. Fink, Willy – VT Elite – 7:55.87  ($1000)
5. Kipkoech, Lawrence – Campbell – 7:57.67 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
6. Chemadi, Kigen – Mid Tenn State – 7:58.42 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
7. Cowart, Donnie – Saucony – 8:01.17  ($400)
8. Kemboi, Amon – Campbell – 8:03.96
9. Kirwa, Azaria – Liberty – 8:07.04
10. Templeton, Aaron – Furman – 8:07.40
11. Seufer, Peter – Virginia Tech – 8:13.05
12. Choge, Jacob – Mid Tenn State – 8:13.57
13. Craig, Adam – Mount Olive – 8:15.72  (NCAA D2 qualifier)
14. Cheruiyot, Geoffry – Mid Tenn State – 8:40.96
15. —  Dahlke, Jonathan – Mount Olive – DNF
16. —  Nowak, Craig – Asics Furman Elite – DNF

Women’s 800m

The women’s Camel City Elite 800m presented by Total Sports had a lot of movement in the field in the month leading up to the race.  First, headliner Melissa Bishop withdrew for what ultimately was identified as a new addition to her family as she was pregnant!  She was set to be replaced by Shea Collinsworth of Oregon Track Club Elite, only to see her withdraw due to an infected blister.  Ultimately, Hanna Hermansson of Craft and Sweden would take the last place in this field.

On race day, Georganne Moline was hired as the pacemaker to take the women out in 58-59 seconds for 400m.  Moline had run 52 seconds for 400m indoors a few weeks earlier, and appeared to overcompensate a bit and would hit 400m in only 61.6.  Despite the slow pace, the field was still strung out with Hermansson followed by Green, Segrave and Pocratsky.  Moline would end up staying in to 600m and picked up the third 200m, which she ran in 30.2 to hit 600m in 1:31.89.

When Moline stepped off past 600m, Hermansson was still leading with a slight gap on Hanna Green.  Green would draw even with Hermansson with about 80m to go and overtake her before the final straightaway.  Green would pick up the win, but also the $1000 bonus to the winner for breaking 2:03.

Rachel Pocratsky of Virginia Tech would finish in 3^rd place, followed by Abike Egbeniyi of Middle Tennessee State.  Both of their times would be NCAA qualifiers, but Pocratsky would run faster later in the season to improve her qualifying mark.

1. Green, Hanna – Nike Oregon Track Club Elite – 2:02.58 ($7000)
2. Hermansson, Hanna – Craft – 2:02.98 ($4000)
3. Pocratsky, Rachel –  Virginia Tech – 2:05.06
4. Egbeniyi, Abike – Mid Tenn State – 2:05.54 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
5. Segrave, Hannah – Great Britain – 2:06.77 ($750)
6. Richards, Emily – Ohio Northern – 2:07.46
7. Barton, Laurie – Virginia Tech – 2:08.23
8. Abu, Agnes – Mid Tenn State – 2:09.32
9. —  Moline, Georganne – Nike – DNF

Men’s 800m

The men’s Camel City Elite 800m presented by Small Batch Beer was supposed to feature local legend Craig Engels, but due to some changes in his racing schedule, he was a late scratch and moved to the mile.  Although you could argue it was already anybody’s race, it was now REALLY anybody’s race.  The race featured defending champ Eliud Rutto who was now running professionally.

Former NCAA D3 400m champ Ross Denman was given the task of pacing the field to a 52-53 second 400m split.  When the gun went off, Denman went straight to the front and would hit 200m in 26 flat, but would have a sizable gap on the field, as no one went with the pacer.  He would slow down and hit 400m in 54 flat, but still have a slight gap on the field.

As Denman stepped off the track, Rutto went to the front and controlled the rest of the race.  With 200m to go, Rutto was followed by Migliorati of East Carolina and Drew Piazza of VT Elite.  As they entered the final straightaway, Rutto looked over his shoulder a few times and seemed to coast in the last 30 meters.  Behind him, Drew Piazza would make a charge and finish second ahead of Matt Molinaro of Ohio Northern.  Ryan Martin would rally to take fourth over the last stretch to improve his payday.

1. Rutto, Eliud – US Army – 1:51.16 ($6000)
2. Piazza, Drew – VT Elite – 1:51.61 ($4000)
3. Molinaro, Matt – Ohio Northern – 1:51.71 (NCAA D3 qualifier)
4. Martin, Ryan – Asics Furman Elite – 1:51.76 ($1000)
5. Migliorati, Stefano – East Carolina – 1:51.87
6. Hastings, Ryan – Appalachian State – 1:52.13
7. —  Denman, Ross – Unattached – DNF

Women’s Mile

The women’s Camel City Mile presented by Champion had some great drama, as Rachel Schneider was doubling back after winning the women’s 3k earlier in the day.  She was running the mile after only about 20 minutes of rest.

Former Wake Forest runner Kathryn Lazarchick was set to handle the pace in 2:15 for 800m.  Like the men’s 800, the pacer did what was asked of her, but no one went with her.  At 400m, Erin Teschuk led the rest of the field, but would passed by Cory McGee as the started the third lap.  Meanwhile, Rachel Schneider would gradually move through the field.

With 400m to go, McGee and Schneider had separated themselves from the rest of the field by nearly 2 seconds.  Schneider would sit on McGee until about 130m to go, at which point she would move past McGee and put on a huge surge that McGee didn’t seem to make any effort to counter.  Schneider would close her last 200m in 30.8 seconds and put over 4 seconds on McGee in that span to totally dominate this race.

McGee would easily hold on for second, with Teschuk and Coogan finishing in third and fourth.  Katie Kennedy of Virginia Tech would finish as the first collegian in a time that would have qualified her for NCAAs had she declared for the event.

Schneider would take home another $6000 for this victory, giving her a total of $12,000 for her two wins on the day!

1. Schneider, Rachel – Under Armour – 4:31.74 ($6000)
2. McGee, Cory – New Balance – 4:36.10 ($4000)
3. Teschuk, Erin – Asics Furman Elite – 4:37.05 ($2000)
4. Coogan, Katrina – New Balance – 4:37.51 ($1000)
5. Kennedy, Katie – Virginia Tech – 4:39.97
6. Jalon, Claudia – North Florida – 4:42.76
7. Barnett, Grace – Clemson – 4:45.06
8. Clairmonte, Dominique – NC State – 4:53.20
9. Corbosiero, Amanda – Richmond – 4:53.66
10. — Lazarchick, Kathryn – RunCCG – DNF

Men’s Mile

The final race of the day was clearly the marquee event of the 2018 Camel City Elite Races.  There was a lot of behind the scenes action before we even got to race day.  Whereas the other races typically had five recruited athletes, we initially only filled this race with four professionals for a few reasons.  First, there was discussion that Paul Chelimo may try to double back from the 3000.  We also had a suspicion that at some point Craig Engels would elect to switch from the 800 to the mile.  Well, both of those happened.

The weekend prior to Camel City, Engels ran the mile at The Armory in an attempt to get the World Indoor standard.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get it and asked to switch races at Camel City.  We easily agreed to this, as we didn’t want him to pull out of our race to try to chase the standard at Millrose, which was the same day.  Once he was secured in our race, the action started.  There was a lot of back and forth about what the pace should be, how far the pacer should go, how many pacers should be in the race, and also who the pacer would be.  These discussions went on for a few days.

Initially, those discussions revolved around Engels’ bid for the World Indoor standard.  Then, Edward Cheserek’s camp asked for 1:55 through 800m.  Engels’ camp then asked if the pacer could take that pace but go farther than 800m.  There was some doubts about the ability of the original pacer to handle that, so we started looking into other options.  Ultimately, we were able to secure 3:58 miler Sampson Laari who was training with his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State.

Engels’ camp wanted to make sure that the race was fast, so JDL Fast Track agreed to put up some additional bonuses to incentivize athletes to go with the pace.  The original bonus structure was $1000 to the winner for breaking 3:58.  We added a $1000 bonus to anyone in the race who achieved the World Indoor standard of sub 3:55, and also another $1000 bonus to the winner if they broke Matthew Centrowitz’s 3:54.02 facility record.

At the gun, Sampson Laari went straight to the front with Cheserek in second and Engels in third.  Laari would hit 1:55.35 for 809m and would pull off the track at 900m, leaving Cheserek by himself.  At 1000m, Cheserek would have almost 3 seconds on Engels in 2^nd place and would start his patented look backs to see how big of a margin he had.

Meanwhile, Chelimo would pass Engels for second and hold that spot until the end.  Cheserek would end up winning by nearly 5 seconds and break the facility record!  Chelimo finish second and run 3:58 to break 4:00 for the first time ever.  Henry Wynne nipped Engels at the line by 0.01 of a second.

Collegiately, two Virginia Tech athletes, Vincent Ciattei and Patrick Joseph, would officially join the sub-4 club.  Those two, as well as teammate Neil Gourley, would all punch their tickets to the NCAA indoor championships in this race.

Farther back, local high schooler Cameron Ponder would run a great race to become the fastest all-time indoor miler in North Carolina HS history with his 4:11.57.

1. Cheserek, Edward – Skechers – 3:53.85 ($9000) – facility record
2. Chelimo, Paul – US Army – 3:58.59 ($4000) – first sub 4 mile
3. Wynne, Henry – Brooks Beasts – 3:58.80 ($2000)
4. Engels, Craig – Nike Oregon Project – 3:58.81 ($1000)
5. Ciattei, Vincent – Virginia Tech – 3:59.57 (NCAA D1 qualifier) – first sub 4 mile
6. Joseph, Patrick – Virginia Tech – 3:59.59 (NCAA D1 qualifier) – first sub 4 mile
7. Gourley, Neil – Virgina Tech – 4:00.21 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
8. Manzano, Leo – Hoka One One – 4:03.10 ($300)
9. Zarate, Diego – Virginia Tech – 4:03.55
10. Erassa, Kirubel – American Distance Project – 4:11.40
11. Ponder, Cameron – Unattached – 4:11.57 (NC HS indoor record)
12. Hoenig, Tim – Queens (NC) – 4:15.02
13. —  Laari, Sampson – Unattached – DNF
14. —  Jones, Adam – Salem TC – DNF