2022 Camel City Elite Race Recaps

2022 Race Recaps

Women’s 3000m

The women’s Camel City Elite 3000m presented by Visit Winston-Salem would kick off the Elite races for the weekend. The anticipation of seeing if Rachel (Schneider) Smith could pull off the “Schneider Double” in back to back years would be the topic of conversation.   Smith won the 3000/mile double in both 2018 and 2021 and would be attempting it again this year.

Hannah Segrave of New Balance agreed to pacing duties after the original pacer had to withdraw earlier in the week.  No stranger to JDL, Elly Henes from Adidas tucked in behind Segrave from the gun. The NC State trio of Kelsey Chmiel, Alexandra Hayes and Savannah Shaw joined Henes near the front.  Rachel Smith of Hoka One One would also be in this front pack, along with Dani Shanahan of Hoka Naz Elite making her debut in the JDL facility.

Segrave would pace 1600m in 4:53 with 7 athletes within a second of the lead.  After Segrave stepped off the track, Henes would start pushing the pace.  She would ultimately run 4:41 for her final 1600 of the race to take the win.

Kelsey Chmiel would be the top collegian by nearly 6 seconds over two of her NC State teammates. Chmiel would garner a new collegiate facility record and hit a NCAA D1 qualifying mark.

Elly Henes picked up $6000 for the win and the $1000 sub 9:00 bonus.  She would win the mile later in the day to complete the “Schneider (Henes?) double.”

1. Henes, Elly – Adidas – 8:57.83 ($7000)
2. Chmiel, Kelsey – NC State – 8:59.96 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
3. Smith, Rachel – Hoka One One – 9:05.08 ($2000)
4. Hayes, Alexandra – NC State – 9:05.12  (NCAA D1 qualifier)
5. Shaw, Savannah – NC State – 9:06.22
6. Shanahan, Danielle – Hoka Naz Elite  ($500)
7. Reinhart. Michaela – Duke – 9:11.66
8. Fegans, Nicole – Georgia Tech – 9:14.13
9. Curtis-Collins, Mackenna  – Wake Forest – 9:14.95
10. Ritter, Celine – Lee (Tenn) – 9:22.46 (NCAA D2 qualifier)
11. Ackley, Adelyn – Liberty – 9:24.96
12. Graham, Bethany – Furman – 9:25.00
13. Alanis, Fatima – Queens (NC) – 9:26.37 (NCAA D2 qualifier)
14. —  Segrave, Hannah – New Balance – DNF

 Men’s 3000m

The men’s Camel City 3000m, presented by Salem Sports, would end up as the deepest 3k race at JDL in its history, as 11 men would break the 8:00 barrier!  The race featured defending champ Craig Nowak, British 10k Olympian Sam Atkin, and Athanas Kioko of Campbell.  Kioko finished third at the 2021 NCAA cross country championships.

The pacing plan was 4:12 through 1600m, which was handled by Jackson Lewis of Under Armour.  When Lewis stepped off the track, Kioko took the lead for about 200m before moving to the outside of lane 1 and essentially asking Atkin to take over the pacing.  When Atkin took over, though, he would start to tighten the screws and gap Kioko by 2000m.

Atkin would go on to win by over 2 seconds over Craig Nowak, who kicked hard on the last lap to pass Antonio Lopez Segura at the line.  Lopez Segura would shatter the previous college facility record by nearly 5 seconds.  Once you applied the flat track conversion, 7 NCAA athletes would show up as sub 7:50 on TFRRS.  Unfortunately, this was the fastest year ever for qualifiers, and only two would get into the NCAA indoor meet.

Atkin would pick up $7000 for the win, which included $6000 for first place, plus the $1000 bonus for sub 7:50.

1.  Atkin, Sam – Unattached – 7:46.79 ($7000)
2.  Nowak, Craig – Unattached – 7:48.95 ($4000)
3.  Lopez Segura, Antonio – Virginia Tech – 7:49.03  (NCAA D1 qualifier)
4. Kioko, Athanas – Campbell – 7:50.46 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
5. Abdalla, Yaseen – Texas – 7:51.59
6. Wolfe, Parker – North Carolina – 7:52.39
7. Ponder, Cameron – Furman – 7:52.57
8.  Fleming, Ben – Virginia Tech – 7:55.04 
9.  Ostberg, Alex – North Carolina -7:55.37 
10. Comber, Casey – Under Armour – 7:57.44 ($300)
11.  Rivera, Rodger – Texas – 7:57.49 
12. Bix, Carson – Lee (Tenn) – 8:00.68  (NCAA D2 qualifier)
13.  Shanklin, Ian – NC State – 8:03.26 
14.  Noble, Christian – Lee (Tenn) – 8:06.07 
15. Kruse, Ka’eo – Virginia – 8:18.58
16.  — Lewis, Jackson – Under Armour – DNF

 Women’s 800m

The women’s Camel City Elite 800m was presented by Total Sports US.  Ajee’ Wilson was the athlete to watch, as she owns the JDL facility record of 1:59.26, which she set in 2019.  Maddie Kopp of Under Armour District Track Club handled the pacing of the first 400m with a 59.5 second split.  Ajee’ Wilson and her training partner, Charlene Lipsey, were right on Kopp’s heels and had gapped the collegians by 400m.

Just behind the Adidas duo, the collegian were led by Lindsey Butler of Virginia Tech. Butler would finish third in 2:05.03.  Butler, Valery Tobias of Texas (2:05.33) and Isabella Giesing of UMass Lowell (2:05.76) would all set a mark to qualify them to the NCAA D1 National Championships, but both Butler and Giesing would run a faster mark later in the season.

Ajee’ Wilson would pick up a $7000 payday, which included $6000 for the win and a $1000 bonus for running sub 2:02.

1. Wilson, Ajee’ – Adidas – 2:01.39 ($7000)
   
2. Lipsey, Charlene – Adidas– 2:03.03  ($4000)
   
3. Butler, Lindsey – Virginia Tech – 2:05.03
   
4. Tobias, Valery – Texas – 2:05.33  (NCAA D1 qualifier)
   
5. Giesing, Isabella – UMass Lowell – 2:05.76
   
6. Marvin, Megan– Furman – 2:08.07
7. —  Kopp, Maddie – Under Armour DTC – DNF

 Men’s 800m

The men’s Camel City Elite 800m, presented by Truist, featured two Olympians.  The first was 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and flat track “world record” holder Clayton Murphy. The second was Tonatiu Lopez, a semi-finalist at the Tokyo Games and Mexican national record holder.

The pacing request was 51-52 seconds for 400m, with Charles Shimukowa hitting 53 at the halfway point.  As the pacer stepped off the track, Yusuf Bizimana of Texas slipped through on the inside and took over the pace. He would hold the lead for the entire third lap until Lopez and Murphy made a big push into the last turn to battle it out on the straightaway. Tonatiu Lopez would win the race by .24 to hold off Murphy.

Bizimana would finish as the top collegian and would achieve an NCAA qualifying mark later in the indoor season.

1. Lopez, Tonatiu – Hoka – 1:47.90  ($7000)
2. Murphy, Clayton- Nike – 1:48.14 ($4000)
3. Amankwa, Alex – Under Armour Dtc – 1:49.58 ($2000)
4. Bizimana, Yusuf – Texas – 1:49.83 
5. Anthony, Seb – Virginia Tech – 1:50.00 
6. Hebert, Brendan – Texas – 1:50.65 
7. Doyle, Timothy – North Florida – 1:53.69
8. — Shimukowa, Charles – Mtn South Elite – DNF
9.  — Lagat, Titus – Lee (Tenn.) – DNF

 Women’s Mile

In the women’s Camel City Elite Mile presented by Champion, three pros would toe the line against a talented field of collegians.  Hannah Segrave handled the pacing, but was a little slower than intended for the first half of the race.  As a result, the race ended up being a more tactical affair.

Once Segrave, stepped off the track at 809m, Emily Richards of Hoka would control and lead the race.  It wasn’t until the last 50m when Elly Henes would make a big push to out lean Richards and take her second win of the day.

The battle for the top collegian wouldn’t be answered until the last lap, as four different athletes would be the top collegian at some point during the races.  Ellie Leather of Cincinnati would ultimately finish in that spot by finishing third overall.  Although none of the collegians would set a NCAA qualifying mark, Leather and Barnett would set qualifying marks later in the season.

Elly Henes won her second race of the day and picked up another $6000.

1. Henes, Elly – Adidas – 4:38.66 ($6000)
   
2. Richards, Emily – Hoka One One– 4:38.68 ($4000)
   
3. Leather, Ellie – Cincinnati – 4:39.58
   
4. Bush, Samantha – NC State – 4:40.09
   
5. Barnett, Mia – Virginia – 4:40.45
   
6. Gearing, Jenna – Kentucky – 4:41.01
7. Smith, Rachel – Hoka One One – 4:42.11 ($400)
8. Torino, Rachel – Virginia Tech – 4:42.13
9. Richards, Kaley – Umass Lowell – 4:42.22
10. Herman, Tori – Kentucky – 4:42.65
11. Ballowe, Hannah – Virginia Tech – 4:45.14
12. LaTour, Sarah – NC State – 4:52.27
13. —  Segrave, Hannah – New Balance – DNF

 Men’s Mile

The final race of the day was the men’s mile, sponsored by Mondo. All eyes would be on Willy Fink of Under Armour who was the two-time defending champ and was going for his third title in a row.

The pacing plan was for Jackson Lewis to take them through 809m in 1:57 to 1:58. When the pacer stepped off, Fink took control of the race and led through 1400m.  Charlie Grice would take the lead from Fink with 100m to go, as Fink would eventually fade to fourth place.  Grice would hold off Vincent Ciattei by only 0.25s.  Crayton Carrozza of Texas finished as the top collegian in a new college facility record of 3:58.96 to qualify for the NCAA indoor meet.

Charlie Grice will walk away with the title and a $7000 pay day that included $6000 for the win and $1000 for breaking 3:58.

1.  Grice, Charlie  – Great Britain – 3:57.22 ($7000)
2.  Ciattei, Vincent  –  Nike Otc Elite – 3:57.47 ($4000)
3.  Carrozza, Crayton – Texas – 3:58.96 (NCAA D1 qualifier)
4.  Fink, Willy – Under Armour – 3:59.19 ($1000)
5.  Dahl, Nick – Duke – 4:00.10 
6.  Vanoppen, Thomas – Wake Forest – 4:01.25 
7.  Jaziri, Ahmed – Eastern Kentucky  – 4:02.93 
8.  Nibbelink, Benjamin  – Virginia Tech  – 4:05.29 
9.  Crawford, Graham – Reebok Boston TC – 4:06.08 ($300)
10.  Gaynor, Gavin – NC State  – 4:08.17 
11.  Lindhorst, Cole – Texas – 4:22.75
12.  — Lewis, Jackson – Under Armour – DNF
13.  — Murphy, Clayton – Nike – DNF