Top GRC Performances (#1)

Coach Jerry has revealed his "totally subjective" top GRC performances during his time on the team!

Women

1) Frances Koons Places Eighth at 2014 Clubs XC and Qualifies For U.S. National Team

"Frances was an 8-time All American during her legendary career at Villanova. Despite being unable to train in 2007 after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on her kidney, Frances qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 1500 in 2008 while still a collegian. For her amazing resilience in the face of a serious medical condition, Frances and was awarded the 2010 Most Courageous Athlete Award by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association. You can find a Philadelphia Inquirer article on Frances here.

Frances continued to find success as a post-graduate, and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials in the 5000. Despite all of her accomplishments, when Frances joined GRC she had never qualified for a United States team. That changed when she placed 8th at Clubs XC in 2014. Frances got out hard and hung on to beat numerous national class athletes, including fellow Villanova greats Emily Lipari and Jen Rhines, who was a three time Olympian.

Frances's great performance at Clubs earned her the right to represent the United States at the Great Endinburgh XC meet in Jaunary 2015. Frances took advantage of the opportunity to run for her country by placing 8th, and she beat, among other world-class athletes, the defending European XC champion. Frances turned her ankle so badly on the second loop that she could barely walk after the race, but she fought all the way to the tape and finished as the third American. I highly recommend you watch this video recap of the race, which has some nice shots of Frances, and captures the robust conditions on an extremely challenging course. 

Frances ran many great races for GRC, and she still holds the club records on the track in the 2 mile (10:06, which qualified her for the 2015 USATF indoor championships) and the 10,000 (33:17), and on the roads in the 8k (26:27) and 10k (34:12). Those records will eventually be broken, but Frances's stellar accomplishments in cross country are unlikely to be surpassed."

Men

1) Kieran O'Connor Places 24th in 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon

"Kieran trained extremely well for the 2016 Trials despite difficult winter weather which forced him to run a 22 miler entirely under the Whitehurst Freeway. As race day approached it became clear that the weather in Los Angeles would be unseasonably warm, and Kieran convinced himself that the heat would work to his advantage. Based on the difficult conditions which leveled the playing field and Kieran's superb fitness, I thought that if everything went perfectly he could sneak into the top 50. Kieran surpassed my best case scenario, and then some. Here's what I said at the time about Kieran's incredible race.

'Kieran's performance was beyond question the greatest ever by a man in a GRC jersey, and no amount of tape applied by overzealous USATF officials to hide our logo could obscure that fact. Going into the race we knew that the heat, which was beyond oppressive, would mean that time was irrelevant, and Kieran's goal was simply to beat people. We also knew that Kieran was not afraid of the heat. To the contrary, Kieran viewed the heat as an opportunity, and had complete confidence in his ability to outlast his opponents in what promised to be a war of attrition that would reward those who wanted it the most. 

When the gun went off Kieran settled in to a reasonable pace with a large group of athletes, and as Kieran held steady and bided his time, the pack dwindled, and athletes ahead of him started to fade. Kieran kept plugging away and moved up gradually through the middle miles. As I counted places on the course in the second half of the race, I was able to communicate to Kieran that he was in the top 50, then the top 40, and each time I relayed this news, Kieran gave me a thumbs up, and kept right on rolling. By the time I saw Kieran with about 5 miles to go he was 35th place by my count, and while he had started show some signs of wear, he was buoyed by the knowledge that he was still moving forward. When he passed me for the last time with less than 2 miles to go, he was hurting big time, but when I told him that by my count he was in 26th place, there was no doubt that he was going to continue his charge to the finish, and he picked up the spots he needed to secure his place in the top 25. 

The list of athletes Kieran beat reads like a who's who of US distance running. Kieran, who didn't run in college and who has literally never run a track meet in his life, beat guys, in a race everyone peaked for, who are NCAA champions, consistently ranked in the top 10 in the US on the track and roads, and have been members of multiple national teams. That he did so is a testament to his preparation, which was superb, and even more so to his sheer force of will. Kieran got on the starting line determined to do something special for himself, his family, and his team, and he absolutely was not going to be deterred. His complete faith in his ability to compete on the highest level in the biggest race of his life is truly awe inspiring.'"

Top GRC Performances (#2)

Coach Jerry has revealed #2 on his list of the top ten GRC performances during his time on the time for the men's and women's side.

Women

2. Emily de La Bruyere Runs 9:59.33 steeplechase, Portland Track Festival 2018

"Emily's performance in Portland was national caliber; indeed, it was the 31st fastest time by an American in 2018. Here's what I said at the time about Emily's fantastic run.

'Congratulations to Emily d for her epic performance at the Portland Track Festival, where she placed 4th in the steeplechase in the truly outstanding time of 9:59.33. That is a new club record, a PR by 3 seconds, and will almost certainly qualify Emily for her second consecutive appearance at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Emily had been on the cusp of breaking 10 minutes for quite a while, and to finally break through that barrier is a humongous accomplishment. Emily's run is made even more impressive by the fact that she had not gone over an actual steeple barrier or taken a water jump since nationals last year, yet she competed with no fear, confident in her ability to handle the hurdling and water jump. I'm really excited to see Emily go head to head with the best athletes in the country next week in Des Moines!'

That great run qualified Emily for nationals with room to spare, and after her performance in Portland, we both felt that she had a real shot at making it to the final in Des Moines. Sure enough, with 200 to go Emily was on 9:54 pace, and all she needed to do to claim the final time qualifier spot was stay upright. And then the last water jump happened. Emily has unfinished business in the steeple, and I am confident that she will qualify for the Olympic Trials in 2021."

Men

2. Lucas Stalnaker Runs 28:57 for 10,000m at Raleigh Relays 2019

"In his final race for the Naval Academy, Lucas placed 5th in the 10,000 at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Based on that success, Lucas and I felt that qualifying for the USATF Championships was a realistic goal. But Lucas's duties in the Marine Corps affected his training in 2018, and he was "only" able to run 29:26 (which broke Mike Franklin's longstanding club record). In 2019, Lucas's training was outstanding, and we knew that he was ready to do something special in Raleigh. Here's what I said at the time about Lucas's fantastic run.

'The highly coveted but rarely awarded GRC Athlete of the Week goes to Lucas for his phenomenal 28:57.02 10,000 at Raleigh Relays, which was a PR of almost 12 seconds, and a club record by 30 seconds. Lucas's run was unquestionably the greatest track performance ever by a GRC man, and puts him in a great position to qualify for the USATF championships. Lucas executed his race plan perfectly--he went through 5000 right at 14:30, and ran a negative split to achieve his longstanding goal of breaking 29 minutes. It wasn't easy the last 1200, and as Lucas said afterwards, the last lap was the most painful 70 he has ever run, but he accomplished the mission. Well done, Marine!'

Lucas qualified for nationals, and the experience he gained in that race, where he placed 20th, will stand him in good stead in his quest to qualify for the 2021 Olympic Trials."

Top GRC Performances (#3 and #4)

Below is another installment of Jerry's "totally subjective list" of top 10 GRC performances.

Women

4. GRC Women Place 6th at 2016 Clubs XC in Tallahassee, Florida

"It all came together for the women at Clubs in 2016. We had excellent performances from our top six of Stephanie Reich, Emily de La Bruyere, Frances Loeb, Maura Carroll, Kerry Allen, and Elena Barham, and all of those performances are still among the top 10 all-time finishes by GRC women at Clubs. It took a lot of effort to get our women on the starting line--Emily flew from grad school in Paris to meet us in the Jacksonville airport for the long drive to Tallahassee--and when the gun went off, all of them performed superbly. Here's what I said about the race at the time.

We had a truly phenomenal day at Clubs, with excellent performances across the board. The headline was the amazing 6th place finish of the women's team, which was the best result for men or women in GRC history. To finish 6th in such a competitive field was beyond my most ambitious hopes, and I could not be more proud of that result. The team result was the product of excellent individual performances, led by Steph's outstanding 26th place, in 20:37, which is the second best placing ever at Clubs by a GRC athlete. Steph has proven this fall that she is a national caliber runner, and her dramatic improvement will continue in 2017. Emily made a stellar GRC debut, finishing 29th in 20:41, which is the third best placing in GRC history. Emily is a truly superb talent, and we're going to see great things from her in the future. Frances was 57th in 21:18, the 5th best finish in GRC history, and that was a significant improvement over her outstanding run last year. Maura ran the best race of her career, finishing an excellent 60th, in 21:21. Maura does not want to admit that she is an outstanding xc runner, but she proved the point conclusively on Saturday. In her first xc race in 11 years, Kerry was 70th, in 21:34, to cap off an excellent late season foray into shorter races, which is going to make her a better marathoner going forward. Elena ran a very strong race to close out her outstanding rookie season with GRC, placing 76th in 21:43. This was truly a fantastic performance from the entire team, and every one of our athletes played a part in our great result. To put into context how much depth we had, prior to Saturday the 5th best all time GRC women's performance at Clubs was 76th place. In Tallahassee, our 6th finisher was 76th place. To further illustrate the point regarding our depth, if Steph had been disqualified for throwing one of her competitors to the ground with a horse collar tackle (which is something she is known to do now and again), and we had scored our 2d-6th finishers, we would have placed 9th. Considering that our previous best women's finish was 10th, that is impressive indeed. I am beyond proud of our women, who came together when it counted, and ran as a team to achieve an incredible result. The women have made amazing progress since 2011 when our first team at Clubs competed with 5 athletes, one of whom could have run in the masters race."

3. Teal Burrell Qualifies for Olympic Trials at CIM 2014

"Wh​en Teal joined GRC in 2012, she had one goal--qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon. Her PR at the time was 2:51 and change, and the standard for the 2012 Trials was 2:47,so the target seemed to be in reach. When USATF announced in 2013 that the standard for the next Trials was 2:43, however, it seemed that Teal's goal was going to be impossible to achieve. But Teal never wavered in her belief that she could do it, and it all came together for her at CIM in 2014, when she ran a remarkable 8+ minute PR, and qualified with room to spare. Here's what I said about Teal's incredible run at the time.

What a truly, truly phenomenal performance by Teal!! I've had 24 hours to process her titanic accomplishment, and I'm still at something of a loss for words to describe how incredibly well Teal ran, but this will shed some light on the enormity of her achievement. When Teal began this training cycle, her half marathon PR was 1:21:37. Yesterday she ran two half marathons faster than that, back to back! Teal is a very experienced marathoner and for someone with her level of experience to improve so dramatically in such a short period of time is simply astonishing. To me, the most amazing part is that Teal believed to her core that she could break 2:43, and she committed herself to going for it by rolling with the 2:43 pace group from the gun despite the ever-present possibility that the aggressive early pace would come back to bite her late in the race. Indeed, Teal was so confident in herself that she hit the gas at mile 24, and left the 2:43 pace group in the rear view mirror to make sure she didn't cut it too close at the tape. Teal's performance is unquestionably one of the greatest in GRC history, and I am certain that her incredibly courageous run will serve as inspiration for our athletes."

Men

4. Zach Hine Runs Marathon PR of 2:16:36 at CIM 2019

"It's not often that a legitimate national caliber athlete joins the team, so we were beyond excited to have Zach come on board in the summer of 2019. The GRC magic clearly rubbed off on Zach, as he ran a long-sought PR in his first marathon in a GRC jersey. Here's what I said about Zach's great run at the time.

Zach ran an outstanding 2:16:36, which puts him second on the GRC all-time list. More importantly, Zach ran a PR, which is something special considering that he has run many, many marathons in his illustrious career, including the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Trials, but his previous PR was from his very first marathon, which he ran in 2011. Zach was already qualified for the 2020 Trials, but chose to run CIM in order to get a confidence boost by running a PR, and it was mission accomplished."

3. Michael Franklin Wins Olympic Development 10,000 at the 2014 Penn Relays

Mike had an incredible outdoor season his senior year at Princeton, when he won the 5000/10,000 double at Heps, and topped it off with a 5th place finish at NCAAs in the 10. Mike was a kicker (as is amply demonstrated by the video of the Heps 5000 below which is well worth watching), and we knew that if he was near the front with 400 to go he would break the tape. Mike sat back and let Luke Meyer do the leading for the first 8k. Mike moved up to the leader's shoulder with 800 to go, and when he unleashed his huge kick with 400 to go it was game over. Mike's time of 29:32 was a club record that stood for four years. More importantly, Mike's victory at Penn was the first ever for a GRC athlete, and it started a streak of three consecutive years when one of our athletes won a championship at Penn. Here's what I said about Mike's great run at the time.

The headline of the weekend is Mike's victory in the 10,000 at Penn Relays. Mike ran a perfect tactical race, and there was never a moment of doubt in my mind that he would win. It would be difficult to overstate the gravity of Mike's victory, but rather than prattle on about it, suffice to say that this is the first, but surely not the last, major championship won by a GRC athlete."

You can find video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbmZo8SueE

Top GRC Performances (#5 and #6)

Below is another installment of Jerry's "totally subjective list" of top 10 GRC performances.

Women

6. GRC Women Win 2017 Millrose Games Distance Medley Relay

"In our first trip to Millrose, our interpid crew of Alyson McGonigle, Alex Morris, Jesse Carlin, and Stephanie Reich were just hoping to be competitive. Much to our surprise, we won, and by a comfortable margin. Here's what I said about the race at the time.

We had a truly an epic performance by our women's DMR at the Millrose Games. Each of our legs--Alyson on the 1200, Alex on the 400, Jesse on the 800, and Steph on the 1600--ran great, and it all came together on the big day. Alyson got us started with a very strong 3:37.06, and she handed off just fractionally behind Central Park TC. Alex sat on Central Park's athlete for about 150 meters, then made a big move to take the lead and never looked back, finishing in an impressive 58.8. Jesse got out hard as always, and immediately extended our lead, and finished in 2:13.8, which was the fastest leg of the day by over a second. Steph got the baton with a sizeable lead, and when she got out aggressively for the first 600 and further extended our lead, the race was essentially over. Steph kept her foot on the gas the whole way, and finished in an excellent 4:54.2, which was also the fastest leg of the day.

Getting the win was important for two reasons. First, Millrose is as big as it gets in indoor track, and for us to be able to be competitive, let alone win, is something special. After all, it's not often that our athletes are described as "useful performers" by Tim Hutchings on a national broadcast, and it was fantastic for us, and our sponsors, to get that kind of exposure. Second, our victory is indicative of how far we've come in building our women's middle distance crew. Having Jesse on board has brought us instant credibility, and with outstanding young middle distance talent in Alyson and Alex, Liz, we will continue to improve. Finally, on a personal level, I grew up watching the Millrose Games, and it was truly my pleasure to be part of such a stellar accomplishment. Well done ladies!"

The video of the race is below:

https://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=197590

5. Maura Linde Finishes 108th in 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon

Maura has amassed several impressive performances during her time at GRC as evidenced by the fact that she is in the top five in the 1500, 3000, 5000, and 10,000 on the track, and is second on the GRC list on the roads in 5k, 8k, 10k, and 10 mile, and her 20th place at Clubs in 2017 is the second best finish in team history. Here's what Jerry had to say about Maura's amazing run:

"For the women, Maura was an outstanding 108th in 2:44:13. Maura's tactics were perfect, and she steadily moved up through the field over the last 15 miles. Maura's time was a PR, and as difficult as it was to PR on that course, Maura's performance is all the more impressive given that this was only her second serious attempt at the marathon, and her training cycle was exceedingly short because of a nagging injury that prevented her from working out or doing real long runs until the middle of January. To run what surely would have been worth sub 2:39 (or faster) on a reasonable course, off of a six week training cycle, is incredible, and demonstrates Maura's immense potential in the marathon. Maura is only starting to scratch the surface of her ability at the longer road distances, and she will be a real threat to place in the top 25 in 2024."

Men

6. GRC Men Win 2018 Millrose Games Distance Medley Relay

"After the women got the win at Millrose the previous year, the men wanted to get in on the action in 2018. Our men's middle distance group was still in its infancy, and our lineup featured distance runners Stewart Reich on the 1200 and Paul Thistle on the mile, along with Daniel Trettel on the 800 and Craig Morgan on the 400. Here's what I said at the time.

"The big highlight was the men's victory, which was truly a team effort. Stewart got us off to a great start with outstanding 3:03.5 1200. Stewart has good speed for a distance runner, but a 1200 at this level was a major challenge for him. Undaunted by the enormity of the task, Stewart ran a smart, patient race, and worked his way up steadily, handing off in third place. Craig, who has excellent 800/1500 credentials but hasn't run a competitive 400 in quite some time, ran a very solid 52.3. Despite being out there with actual 400 runners (one of whom ran 47.8), Craig more than held his own, running the 4th fastest leg of the day. Daniel was ready to pop a big one, and he perfectly executed his race plan of going out hard and settling in. Daniel's excellent 1:52.7 was the second fastest leg of the day, and set us up to go for the win. Paul T got the baton in second, 5 seconds behind the leader, and he methodically chipped away at the deficit. With 200 to go Paul was within striking distance and charging hard. Paul has only done a handful of workouts this winter, and hadn't raced anything shorter than a steeple in several years, but he managed to find another gear in the final 100, and made the pass in the home straight. Paul's 4:14.3 was the fastest leg of the day, and got us the win, in the impressive time of 10:02.95. I'll readily admit that I did not see the victory coming--the competition was formidable, we were not race sharp, and other than Daniel we had athletes competing at distances that were well outside of their comfort zone. Despite the long odds, the guys collectively rose to the challenge, and each of them ran better than I could have hoped for. That our group was able to exceed my most optimistic projections is proof that GRC athletes running together for a common goal can accomplish great things. Well done, men!"

5. Dan Meteer Runs 2:17:38 in Marathon Debut, CIM 2019

"In 2019, Dan had arguably the best year of any GRC man during my time with the team. He capped off his incredible year, which included a 4:09 anchor leg at Millrose and a 1:04:53 half at Indy, with an amazing performance in his marathon debut. Here's what I said about it at the time.

Congratulations to Dan M for qualifying for the Olympic Trials in his marathon debut with his fantastic 2:17:38 at CIM! This stellar performance puts Dan third on the GRC all-time list. Ten months ago, Dan anchored our DMR at Millrose, and and our expectation was that he would stick to the track for the foreseeable future. That changed after Dan jumped into the DC RNR Half as a workout and ran 1:07:33. With several months of marathon focused training under his belt, it was clear that Dan was fit to break 2:19. But being fit to qualify and actually qualifying are two different things. When the gun went off Dan executed his race plan perfectly, going through the half in 1:09:03 and running a big negative split to qualify with plenty of room to spare. Dan's transformation from a 5000 specialist to a marathoner has been remarkable, and I could not be more proud of his superb performance."

Top GRC Performances (#7 and #8)

Below is another installment of Jerry's "totally subjective list" of top 10 GRC performances.

Women

8. Hilary May Runs Club Record 1500 Despite Torn Soleus at Hopkins/Loyola 2013

Coach Jerry: "Hilary was a middle distance standout at Harvard, where she broke the 30 year old school record in the 1000 meters. Hilary moved up to longer track distances in 2013 with great success, running club records in the 3000 (9:52.9) and 5000 (16:56) early in the season. The plan was to take her newfound strength and apply it to the 1500 in the latter stages of the season. Her first 1500 was at Hopkins/Loyola, which she treated as a rustbuster for the more competitive races to come. Here's what I said about the race at the time.

At the Hopkins/Loyola track meet on Saturday, Hilary picked up where she left off, running another GRC club record, this time 4:32.1 for 1500, which was also a new facility record. Hilary would have lowered her PR of 4:30 if not for an issue in her calf that impeded her the last 300. Considering that she was barely able to walk when she crossed the line, and led the entire race in a strong wind, that was another truly excellent performance.

But there's more to the story. What we thought after the race was a calf cramp turned out to be a torn soleus that kept Hilary out of action for months. Running 4:32 with a serious injury is truly impressive."

7. Kerry Allen Runs Qualifies for Olympic Trials at Twin Cities 2018

Jerry had this to write about the performance: "Congratulations to Kerry for qualifying for the Olympic Trials Marathon! At Twin Cities yesterday, Kerry ran an outstanding 2:41:33, a PR of over ten minutes, which is the second fastest time in GRC history, and was good for seventh place in a very competitive field. I can't overstate what an exceptional run that was, or how excited I am to see Kerry get the breakthrough she worked so hard for. As I've told Kerry many times in the last couple of years, she's had Olympic Trials qualifier written all over her, but despite several big PRs at shorter distances, she's had bad luck with weather on race day and a series of nagging injuries that had her questioning whether she would ever be able to reach her potential in the marathon. After another injury setback that scuttled her spring plans, Kerry put in a really good block of training for the past few months, and the weather in Twin Cities was perfect, and Kerry took advantage of her opportunity in a huge way. Kerry's fabulous performance was the product of years of hard work and unrelenting persistence in the face of daunting obstacles, and I'm really, really proud of what she accomplished."

Men

8. Sam Luff runs 14:15.2 5000 at Princeton Larry Ellis Invite 2011

Sam had many impressive performances over all surfaces during his time on GRC, but the one that stood out to Jerry was his 20 second PR at Princeton. Here's what Jerry had to say:

"What an amazing run by Sam on Friday at Princeton! Sam went head to head with an elite field (that included future GRC greats Luke Meyer who ran 14:08 and Mike Franklin who ran 14:19) and proved that he belonged out there with them. Major breakthroughs like that do not happen by accident, and Sam worked extremely hard to put himself in a position to run with the big guns."

7. GRC Men Finish 9th at USATF Clubs XC, Bend, Oregon 2013

"GRC's recruiting class of 2013 was truly stellar. That summer we welcomed two-time Olympic Trials qualifier Luke Meyer, new graduate Mike Franklin, who was fifth in the NCAA 10,000 in his final race for Princeton, Kevin McNab, an All-American in the steeplechase at Texas A & M, and Kieran O'Connor, who was not nearly as accomplished as his comrades prior to joining GRC, but who quickly proved to be a special talent. With returning athletes Sam Luff and Sean Barrett, who was 8th in the long course race at the World Military XC championships that spring, we knew we had a formidable squad.

Bend posed unique challenges. In addition to being at 3500 feet of altitude, the course was literally up the side of a mountain, and the footing was very sloppy after several inches of show melted in the 24 hours prior to the start. We knew that if we stayed patient and let the course and the altitude take its toll on our competition, we could make a big move in the second half of the race. The guys executed the plan perfectly. In his only XC race since high school, Kieran placed 46th, which is still the best finish ever by a GRC man. Mike was 61st, which is sitll the fifth best finish in GRC history, followed by Luke in 72nd, and Kevin in 75th. Sam rounded out the scoring in 105th after taking an epic spill that, as luck would have it, was captured on film for posterity. Those great performances put us in ninth place, ahead of several professional teams. This was the first time a GRC squad placed in the top ten at Clubs, which was a monumental breakthrough for us. The success of the 2013 team set the standard of excellence for all future GRC Clubs teams."

Top GRC Performances (#9 and #10)

While GRC harriers are temporarily sidelined due to the coronavirus, Coach Jerry Alexander has been sharing his "completely subjective countdown of the top 10 GRC performances" during his time with the team.

Women

10. Alex Morris Runs Clubs 800m Record 2:08.87 at the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet in 2018.

Jerry had this to say about Alex's record breaking performance: "The performance of the night came from Alex, who gave herself an early birthday present by running 2:08.87 in the 800, which is a PR by 3 seconds, and a club record. Alex was ready for a major breakthrough, and it happened last night in a big way. Alex got out hard, hung tough through the middle stages, and closed with conviction to become the first GRC woman to break 2:10. Alex's reaction when she saw the official time was priceless--it was a combination of shock and joy that I will remember for a long time."

9. Stephanie Reich Wins 2016 Penn Relays Olympic Development 10,000. 

Steph's win was one of her many great performances in a GRC singlet, but deserves to be set aside because it was such a huge breakthrough. She is the club record holder in the 1500, road 5k, and 10 mile. She also won the Army 10 Miler in 2016 and would go on to defend her win at Penn Relays in 2017.

According to Jerry, "Steph finished the night in style, winning the 10,000 in an outstanding 34:12, which is second on the all-time list. Steph did it the hard way, leading for at least half the race, and she ran a huge negative split (17:16/16:56), which shows she could have run faster in a more favorable race. To put into perspective just how far Steph has come in a very short time, her PRs prior to joining GRC in the fall were 17:59 and 37:31, so it's fair to say that she's improved a bit in the last year, and I have every expectation that she's just scratching the surface of her ability."

Men

10. Carlos Jamieson Runs Road 5k Club Record at Clarendon Day 5k

Coach Jerry: "Carlos has incredible range, from shorter distances on the track (PRs of 1:49.3 for 800 and 3:41.84 for 1500) to longer distances on the roads (1:04:29 half marathon), and when healthy and fit he is capable of remarkable performances. Carlos was both healthy and fit in September of 2019, and he proved it by crushing the club record in the road 5k with his 14:27 at Clarendon. If more proof of his fitness was needed, he doubled back to win the 10k in 31:10."

9. Luke Meyer Runs 10 Mile Club Record at Cherry Blossom

Luke is no stranger to big stages having run in the Olympic Trials twice for the Steeplechase and Marathon in 2008 and 2012, respectively.

As Jerry put it, "Luke Ran 48:46 at Cherry Blossom, which was a club record by 21 seconds. Luke's 10th place finish in the USATF Championship was almost surely the highest placing by a GRC athlete in a national championship, and his race is unquestionably one of the finest ever in a GRC singlet."