D3 Glory Days Podcast

“Don't be afraid to hurt because it's going to hurt.  Getting better, getting faster - it hurts, it sucks, and it's uncomfortable. But just being able to understand your limits and knowing where those are is a big first step in order to reach some of those goals.”

Last week, thousands of runners ran from Hopkinton to Boston to compete in the 126th running of the Boston Marathon. The 8th American that day was a college 400 runner from Wisconsin Stevens Point, Kathy Derks.

The progression that Kathy has made from her college days to her marathoning is incredible. Especially since she hated to walk when she was 10 years old and had her mom push her in a stroller during their vacation in New York City.

Kathy wasn’t recruited onto the UWSP team but simply asked to join. She came in as a 60s 400m runner with room to improve and the determination to get better. It was a after a breakout race her sophomore year where she finally dipped under 60s that she realized her potential.

As she moved to the cross country team to help her 800, she began taking running more seriously. And her times dropped with her increased dedication. When the dust settled, Derks was a 57/2:13 400/800 meter runner after improving from a 60/2:29 runner.

After she graduated, she had difficulty not being on a team and gravitated toward distance running. She started running because she had the time to do so. As she trained for her first marathon, the goal of running Boston became her focus. She ran 3:01 in her debut and was hooked.

As her marathon days progressed, she needed to help to achieve her goals. She reached out to a friend to coach her and the partnership has seen even more improvement. As she grasps what this new PB means to her, Kathy will continue to run for the love of it. In 2024, she’ll toe the line of the Olympic Trials hopefully as a 2:30 marathoner.

Summer of Hayward

Don’t miss out on all the action leading up to the World Championships. Hayward Field will host so many great events that you don’t want to miss. Get your Summer of Hayward Tickets now!

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers. You can also visit our Patreon and become a monthly contributor there!

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

This week on The Double, Natalie Bitetti, Riley Harmon, Emily Clarke, and Meredith Bloss join to talk about finishing 2nd in XC, fast times in track, and the culture at CMS. Not being on campus for the ‘20-'21 school year was challenging but it brought a renewed love for running for the CMS team. Many of them were able live together while being able to train consistently during that time. After John Goldhammer retired, Emily and Riley played a role in finding their new coach and are so happy with how their new coach, Marina Muncan, has positively impacted their program.

While a lot of the discussion revolved around their team success and culture, we were able to hear about their unique experiences. Meredith transferred from Cornell to get away from the cold, but to also have a small school experience. She found that the individual focus she receives in the classroom and at practice has led to success in both areas.

Natalie Bitetti was originally recruited to CMS for softball but after picking up cross country during her senior year of high school, she has shifted her focus into becoming a full-time runner. In her first full year, she was 16th in XC and has run 4:33 for the 1500m in track!

CMS is ready to chase fast time this season, break school record and be apart of the rise that is happening in D3 right now. It’s clear they’re having fun with it and enjoy the community they have built at CMS.

So far this season they’ve run:

Meredith Bloss - 16:51/34:35

Natalie Bitetti - 2:16/4:33

Emily Clarke - 4:39/16:53

Riley Harmon: 10:58 (steeple)/ 17:04

Summer of Hayward Tickets

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

“Like the air we breathe, there's something there that has kept us [Al] together and it's the biggest emotion you have. That's love for each other and love for the program that Al started. I tried to do the best I can, and I hope somebody else is is willing to put in the time and energy that it takes.”

On April 4th, Frank Gramarosso announced his retirement from North Central College marking a new era for the historic program. For the first time in almost 60 years, NCC with be conducting a search for a new Cross Country & Track and Field Coach.

Gramarosso began at North Central in 1983 as a part-time assistant coach. He was still teaching at a local high school, but his passion was in coaching. In 1985, Al Carius promoted Gramarosso to full-time assistant to allow Gramarosso to go all in on his coaching. He was tasked with building up the track and field side of the program as the cross country program had already won six national titles.

Gramarosso helped North Central claim its first track and field national title in 1989 and would be the start of something special. Throughout his time, Gramarosso’s teams won 12 total track and field national titles and enjoyed five straight from Indoors in 2010 through Indoors in 2012.

While winning was fun, Gramarosso enjoyed making his student-athletes better people. His goal was to create a program built on trust and love as to not completely focus on times and titles. His time spent at North Central has seen countless trophies and accolades, but he’s most proud of the fact that there are over 100 current coaches that called North Central home.

Gramarosso’s impact is not only felt at North Central but across the entire division. We want to thank him for his what he’s done for the sport and division. We hope he enjoys his retirement and only goes back to campus one day a week!

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

Welcome back to D3 Glory Days! It’s been a bit since we last spoke but we’re back with a few guys from Pomona-Pitzer. On today’s episode of The Double, we speak with Colin Kirkpatrick, Lucas Florsheim, and Bennett Booth on Pomona’s national title in xc and how the season is going so far.

The team has 16 guys under 15min in the 5k and just added their 17th last night. They speak highly of the team culture as it’s a community that lifts each other up. While they were not allowed on campus for all of the 2020-2021 school because of COVID, the team lived and trained together all across the country. A big group was in Asheville, NC and they contribute that time together as a big catalyst for their success.

On top of not being on campus for that school, their coach from the 2019 XC National Championship team, Jordan Carpenter, left for BU. Stepping in to replace him was their assistant coach, Kyle Flores. They speak highly of the transition and how well Kyle has done given these circumstances. You can get a sense that the strong team culture didn’t they a school year a part and a new coach change the trajectory of the program.

This was a fun a conversation to get a better idea of what happening over in California. One big takeaway is how proud they are of their team, their conference and being D3 athletes. They talked about getting excited for other schools running well because it helps the collective of D3 running.

Pomona will be a force to reckon with next fall as 5/7 will return and more than half of the 16 under 15 are underclassmen.

While they wanted to talk about the team success, here is what each guy has ran this season so far:

Colin Kirkpatrick - 8:53 (steeple), 14:23

Lucas Florsheim - 14:13, 29:55

Bennett Booth - 1:49, 4:05(mile), 14:36

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

“Leave the meet either in tears because you did so great that couldn’t help but cry or because you failed trying to do something great.” - Chip Schneider

What a weekend of D3 Track and Field.  Noah and Stu start by giving their perspective of the weekend and some of their favorite moments before speaking with the coaches that won a national title.

We sat down with the three national title winning coaches Chip Schneider of UW-Eau Claire, Jeff Stiles of WashU and Matt Jones of Loras to get their perspective of the weekend.

Time Stamp:

Chip Schneider - 26:59

Jeff Stiles - 49:15

Matt Jones - 1:19:25

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

The indoor national meet is this weekend! Get prepared for the weekend by hearing from some of the contenders. They all have had a great season so far and are eager to compete this weekend. We’re looking forward to watching them compete as we announce the meet!

In order of appearance and their time stamp:

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

We move up in distance this week and speak with Colorado College head coach, Alex Nichols. Alex is professional trail/ultra runner for Scott Running and finished 3rd overall at the USATF 100mile Road Championships.

Alex was drawn to Colorado College due to the access to the trails and the unique academic calendar. His freshman class was large and showed a lot potential to become a great team. Throughout his time at CC, they would consistently send individuals to the national meet but come up just shy of making it as a team. His senior year, they accomplished what they set out to do by making it as a team. Alex finished 14th overall and CC finished 21st.

After college, Alex had early success at Pikes Peak Marathon where he beat multiple sponsored athletes. He wanted to see how far he could take trail running especially when he knew there was an all expensed paid trip to compete internationally. He competed multiple times for Team USA at the Mountain Running Championships and was highlighted by a 6th place finish in 2015 where Team USA earned 2nd place.

His success doesn’t end there as notable highlights from his trail/ultra career including winning the Pikes Peak Marathon twice, holding the course record at Mont Blanc 80k, and a 2nd place at Western States in 2017.

Follow Alex on Instagram

Follow Alex on Strava

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

Macklin Chaffee’s running journey is centered around the question, “what if.” 

In high school, his coach put him in three events to see what he would do well in: high jump, hurdles, and the 1600m. After a fast last lap to propel Chaffee to a 4:45 in his first 1600m race, it was clear Chaffee was a miler.

Chaffee’s motivation levels ebbed and flowed while he was at Williams College. To put it bluntly, he didn’t enjoy running which led to sub par training heading into three of his four cross country seasons. On top of the lack of training, he had interest in the ultimate frisbee club that left him wondering if pursuing that would make for a better college experience.

However, his sophomore year track season gave him the motivation he needed and began the “what if” theme of his career.  After having to step into the DMR as an alternate and getting into the mile after a medical scratch, Chaffee saw first hand what it’s like to be at the top of Division 3. However, a stint of mono that outdoor season left him dreaming for the next season.

That next track season he began to see more success by lowering his PB and finishing runner up in the 1500m. That second place finish gave him the motivation he needed to train over the season to help Williams during cross country. Despite an injury, he was able to muster up a 38th place finish to help Williams finish third on the podium.

His eyes were set on winning a national title during track but came up 0.09 seconds short. His coached convinced him to do a few races after the season which ended in him finished 32nd at the USA Outdoor National Champs. From there, he wanted to see how far he could take running.

While his ultimate goal of making the Olympics fell short, Macklin’s story is one of resiliency and of what you can do if you go all in. His professional career was filled with ups and down but he can say he is a 3:56 miler.

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

Switching up this week to cover off on what was an exciting weekend in D3 Track and Field. So much happened over the weekend and Nationals is still weeks away. 

Jordan Carpenter comes on to recap the action. If you want to read the recap, check it out.

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating Spotify!

We’re launching a live D3 Track Show this Week. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

On this episode we were joined by Kassie Parker to talk about her historic 3k run and what to expect in her 5k this afternoon. We got to preview the Men's DMR with JCU and Lynchburg. Plus, we welcomed back Jordan Carpenter to break down the hype that is BU this weekend. Great episode with a lot of action. Get ready for another big weekend in D3 Track and Field.

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating Spotify!

We’re launching a live D3 Track Show this Week. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.