Folders
Elite Fields 10
Men's Camel City 3000m presented by Salem SportsThe 2024 Camel City Elite Races will be held on Saturday, January 27, 2024. Stay tuned for more details on the field for 2023. The race is once again sponsored by Salem Sports.
2023 Elite Fields 2023 Camel City Elite Men's 3000m Race Video 1. Kioko, Athanas - Unattached - 7:46.52 ($7000)2. Fink, Willy - Under Armour Baltimore Distance - 7:49.84 ($4000)3. Harrison, Ian - NC State - 7:55.354. Carson Williams - Furman - 7:55.87 5. Ian Shanklin - NC State - 7:56.826. Dylan Schubert - Furman - 7:57.597. Yasin Sado - Virginia - 7:58.538. Antonio Lopez Segura - Virginia Tech - 7:59.619. David Vorbach - NC State - 8:02.9210. Declan Rymer - Virginia Tech - 8:03.1211. Luke Henseler - Pittsburgh - 8:13.2312. Nickolas Scudder - Charlotte - 8:14.92-- Tim Thacker - Wild Ox TC - DNF-- Ostberg, Alex - Unattached - DNF
2022 Recap 2022 Camel City Elite Men's 3000m Race Video 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 - 7:52.397. Ponder, Cameron - Furman - 7:52.578. 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 -- Lewis, Jackson - Under Armour - DNF 2021 Recap 2021 Camel City Elite Men's 3000m Race Video The 2021 Camel City races were obviously a little different during Covid. With no spectators in the facility, it definitely had a different vibe. For recruiting of pros, we tried to focus on athletes who were relatively local and didn't have to fly to the meet. We also didn't hire pacers and instead offered bonuses at intermediate stages of the race to get things going. With a smaller field than normal due to Covid, there were some interesting last-minute developments in this race. On the Thursday prior to the race, Craig Nowak reached out and asked if he could compete. After discussing it, we agreed to let him into the race, provided he could get a PCR test in time. On Thursday afternoon, he got his Covid test and hopped on a plane from Phoenix on Friday morning. He indicated that he wanted to redeem himself for a poor showing in the 2020 Camel City Mile. The other development was that Peter Seufer was considering scratching, but we convinced him to stay in and handle the pacing duties for the first 1600m to pick up the pacing bonuses, which he did beautifully. Seufer hit 1600m in 4:14.14 and then stepped off the track, with Comber of Villanova but running unattached taking over the lead. Barraza would take over the lead at 2200m. He would keep the lead until Nowak would make his move with 125m to go. Nowak would close the last 400m in 58.26. The collegians in this race did exceptionally well. Comber and Makepeace (Butler) would have qualified for NCAAs if they had been running for their schools. Meanwhile, Jaziri and Ponder would qualify easily for the NCAA D1 meet. Behind them, the two Western Colorado runners would improve on their previous altitude qualifiers by running 7:57 without the conversion! Additionally, Becker of Queens would also qualify for the D2 meet. 1. Nowak, Craig - Unattached - 7:50.89 ($6000)2. Barraza, Brian - Tinman Elite - 7:52.72 ($4250)3. Comber, Casey - Unattached - 7:52.894. Makepeace, Euan - Unattached - 7:55.435. Flanagan, Ben - Reebok Boston TC - 7:55.44 ($750)6. Jaziri, Ahmed - Eastern Kentucky - 7:55.71 (NCAA D1 qualifier)7. Ponder, Cameron - Furman - 7:56. 36 (NCAA D1 qualifier)8. Sweeney, Charlie - Western Colorado - 7:57.19 (NCAA D2 qualifier)9. Stack, Taylor - Western Colorado - 7:57.74 (NCAA D2 qualifier)10. Becker, Jan Lukas - Queens (NC) - 8:09.72 (NCAA D2 qualifier)-- Seufer, Peter - Unattached - DNF ($500)
2020 Recap 2020 Camel City Elite Men's 3000m Race Video
The men’s Camel City 3000m presented by Salem Sports featured 2-time champ Paul Chelimo, who won this event in 2017 and 2018. This race was unique in that, aside from the pros in the race, there were also NCAA athletes from Division I, Division II and Division III! At the gun, Chelimo didn’t waste any time going to the lead. In knowing that may be the case, there was a conversation with the pacer, Donnie Cowart, prior to the race to let Chelimo go and run the prescribed pace, which was 4:12 through 1600m. Chelimo went through the first 400m in 59.70 and would keep rolling through 1600m, which he passed in 4:08. The rest of the group would pass 1600m in 4:14 to 4:16. Chelimo would keep rolling and never be challenged at any point in the race. Behind him, though, Virginia Tech’s Peter Seufer would have a phenomenal race, breaking the JDL college facility record with his 7:53.72 that would easily qualify him for the NCAA D1 championships. Seufer closed his last 400m in 59.92 seconds! Additionally, Christian Noble and Joshua Chepkesir would get NCAA Division II qualifying marks, with Noble’s time being the #1 time in all of Division II.
2019 Recap
2019 Camel City Elite Men's 3000m Race Video The men’s Camel City 3000m presented by Salem Sports featured Australian Olympian Patrick Tiernan and Riley Masters as the top two pros in this race. The race also featured two top-5 finishers from the NCAA cross country championships in Edwin Kurgat and Aaron Templeton. Willy Fink handled the pacing duties of this race and got them out a bit quick, hitting 200m in under 30 seconds before settling in. Shota Onizuka of Japan would sit right behind Fink for the first 1350m before starting to fade a bit. At 1600m, with Fink’s duties done, Tiernan would take over and slowly start increasing the tempo. His last 1600m would be 4:07.47, as he would drop everyone from contention. Collegiately, Sugira and Kurgat would have solid runs, but would only end up #18 and #21 on the end of season TFRRS lists. Sugira’s time would have made it into each of the last three NCAA championships, and Kurgat would have been accepted into one of the last three. Tiernan would pick up $7000 for the win, including the $1000 bonus for breaking 7:50.00. His time would be the #3 time in JDL Fast Track history, behind only those of Paul Chelimo and Garrett Heath. 1. Tiernan, Patrick – Nike – 7:48.86 ($7000) 2. Masters, Riley – Nike – 7:54.53 ($4000) 3. Erassa, Kirubel – American Distance Project – 7:57.77 ($2000) 4. Sugira, James – Eastern Kentucky – 7:58.19 5. Kurgat, Edwin – Iowa State – 7:59.22 6. Coleman, Jamaine – Furman Elite – 7:59.76 ($500) 7. Seufer, Peter – Virginia Tech – 7:59.90 8. Reeder, Troy – Furman Elite – 8:00.34 ($300) 9. Templeton, Aaron – Unattached – 8:04.69 10. Shanklin, Ian – NC State – 8:09.46 11. Chemadi, Kigen – Mid Tenn State – 8:13.75 12. Long, Zach – Tennessee – 8:14.53 13. Lara, Frank – Furman – 8:21.67 14. Onizuka, Shota – Unattached – 8:24.79 15. Choge, Jacob – Mid Tenn State – 8:30.29 16. Kipchumba, Enock – Eastern Kentucky – 8:38.43 -- Fink, Willy – VT Elite - DNF
2018 Recap 2018 Camel City Elite Men's 3000m Race Video 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 5th 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 - 8:03.969. Kirwa, Azaria - Liberty - 8:07.0410. Templeton, Aaron - Furman - 8:07.4011. Seufer, Peter - Virginia Tech - 8:13.0512. Choge, Jacob - Mid Tenn State - 8:13.5713. Craig, Adam - Mount Olive - 8:15.72 (NCAA D2 qualifier)14. Cheruiyot, Geoffry - Mid Tenn State - 8:40.96-- Dahlke, Jonathan - Mount Olive - DNF-- Nowak, Craig - Asics Furman Elite - DNF
2017 Recap 2017 Men's Camel City 3k Race Video The men's Camel City 3k presented by Salem Sports had the potential to be one of the best and deepest races of the day. With 16 athletes on the line, many of whom were collegians with sub 14 minute 5k credentials, this was a race where we anticipated the possibility of multiple NCAA qualifiers. Unfortunately, that didn't materialize this year, but the race was nonetheless one of the most exciting of the day. The race featured the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist at 5000m, Paul Chelimo. Chelimo finished his college career at nearby UNC-Greensboro and actually raced in the inaugural Camel City Mile back in 2013 while attending UNCG. But it would be no walk in the park for him, as Lee Emanuel of Hoka One One was in the field. Emanuel actually beat Chelimo at this distance last March at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland. The beginning of the race had some confusion about the pacing request. The pace was slated for 4:12 for 1600m by Tomas Cotter of Asics Furman Elite. However, we later learned that Chelimo made a request on the starting line for Cotter to go even faster. Around 450m into the race, Chelimo would pass Cotter and take the lead. Cotter would pass him back 30m later and resume the original pace. They would pass 600m in a bold 1:31.5, which was barely slower than the Camel City Mile pace through 600m. At this point, Chelimo would again pass Cotter on the backstretch. At this point, facility director Craig Longhurst told Cotter to let Chelimo go and run the prescribed pace. Chelimo would pass 800m in 2:01.80 and continue gliding through to a split of 4:07.5 at 1600m. Meanwhile, behind him a chase pack would form, led by Cotter with Emanuel in tow. Emanuel would pass 1600m about 4 seconds back in 4:11. However, after 1600m, Chelimo would slow ever so slightly and Emanuel began chipping away at the lead. By 200m to go, the lead was cut to about a half second. However, Chelimo would absolutely blast the final 200m in 26.95 to set a new facility record of 7:45.49. Emanuel would finish second in 7:49.29. Amon Terer would be the only collegian to break 8:00, as he barely dipped under that barrier with a 7:59.92 That time would make him the last NCAA qualifier in this event. Behind him, a string of four collegians would break 8:05.
photo by Phil Ponder 2016 Heading into the meet, this was one of the strongest fields from top to bottom. Bernard Lagat was set to headline this race, but he had to withdraw about 10 days prior to the event. Luckily for us, we were able to replace him with NCAA recordholder Lawi Lalang, which would give us additonal firepower up front to challenge Garrett Heath. Then, we lost Riley Masters and top returning pro Jake Shelley a few days before the meet. Finally, we lost defending champ Thomas Curtin of Virginia Tech about 90 minutes prior to the race due to some team issues that required their immediate return to campus. When the gun went off at 2:30 pm, though, these guys came to race! Michael Hammond of VT Elite was given the job of taking the race out in 4:12 to 4:15 for the first 1600m. He did a great job and hit 4:13.20 before stepping off the track. At that point, Lalang would take the lead, followed closely by Garrett Heath, Willy Fink, Michael Atchoo and Luis Vargas. Drew Hunter would run a smart race and lurk just on the back of that pack, staying within striking distance the entire way. With 400m to go, Lalang would still lead Heath, Fink and Vargas with Hunter just off that pack. photo credit by Phil Ponder 2015 The 2015 edition would see an increase in prize money to $2000/$1000/$500, plus the $1000 bonus for breaking Craig Forys facility record. The race had the luxury of pacer, 3:58 miler, Isaac Presson of Furman Elite, with a request to go out in approximately 4:16 for 1600 meters. Coming into the race, Miles Batty had the most impressive credentials with a 3:54 mile PR and 7:49 3k PR. However, he would be a non-factor in the race and would ultimately drop out. The race suffered a re-start when one of the competitors fell in the first 50 meters. At the re-start, Isaac Presson went straight to the front and did a great job controlling the tempo. Thomson of NC State, Curtin of Virginia Tech and Lord of Georgia would be the first to tuck in behind the pacer. By 800m, the order would be shuffled a little and Curtin, Shelley, Lord and Keveren would be just off Presson’s shoulder in a single-file line. Presson would pass 1600m at 4:18 and 2k at 5:21 before stepping off the track. At that point, Curtin would assume the lead and drop the hammer. Lord, Keveren and Shelley would try to go with him, but Curtin would run approximately 2:35 for his last 1k to take the victory. His finishing mark of 7:56.10 would convert to 7:50.63 and easily get him into the NCAA indoor championship meet. Behind him, Jake Shelley would outkick Lord of Georgia and take the top professional spot and the $2k prize money. 2015 Results 1. Curtin, Thomas – Virginia Tech – 7:56.10 (NCAA D1 qualifier)2. Shelley, Jake – Unattached – 8:00.66 ($2000)3. Lord, Brandon – Georgia – 8:00.764. Keveren, Sean – Ragged Mountain Elite – 8:04.16 ($1000)5. Raneri, John – North Carolina – 8:04.756. Reeder, Troy – Furman – 8:04.877. Thomson, Jacob – NC State – 8:05.198. Vargas, Luis – Elon – 8:06.089. Barlow, Darren – Virginia Tech – 8:06.4810. Schellberg, Pat – North Carolina – 8:06.7011. Robertson, Stuart – Virginia Tech – 8:16.1412. Roberts, Sandy – Salming – 8:16.80 ($500)13. Baker, Brock – Furman – 8:22.80-- Walling, Ryan – North Carolina – DNF-- Batty, Miles – Unattached – DNF-- Presson, Isaac – Furman Elite - DNF
photo credit by Phil Ponder 2014 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. 2014 Results 1. Forys, Craig – Furman Elite – 7:58.07 ($1200)2. Mack, Bobby – Reebok – 7:59.98 ($400)3. McCormack, Ty – Auburn – 8:01.604. Walling, Ryan – North Carolina – 8:06.795. Duchampt, Felix – Queens (NC) – 8:11.26 (NCAA D2 qualifier)6. Gilmer, Lee – Furman Elite – 8:11.557. Rose, Alexander – Wake Forest – 8:13.398. Buhner, Niklas – Auburn – 8:14.119. Given, Wilkerson – Furman Elite – 8:14.5810. Hudgins, Brandon – Unattached 8:17.4811. Smith, Jacob – High Point – 8:19.2612. Terer, Amon – Campbell – 8:19.4113. Morgan, Scott – North Carolina – 8:27.3614. Szalai, Benji – High Point – 8:27.81-- Finnerty, Rob – Furman Elite - DNF |
