asics Greenville Track Club-ELITE - a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program
established 2012
established 2012
 McKnight during her pre-race shakeout on Friday before her race. ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Cristina McKnight ran a personal best of 1:16:04 to place 14th in the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon in Indiana's capital city. She averaged 5:48 per mile over the 13.1-mile course on a cold Saturday morning. Her finishing time was 36 seconds faster than her previous best, which she ran in Eugene, OR in April. Cristina ran negative splits as she passed 10K at 36:28 (5:52 pace). McKnight joined the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program in March and had not competed as a collegiate athlete while studying at Michigan State University. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in Statistics and is employed by GE. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.
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 Ryan Bugler, Annie Rodenfels, Avery Martin, Victor Pataky, Joe Niemiec and Cristina McKnight Four male and one female ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athletes were among the top ten, respectively, in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings. The rankings, which were through November 2, 2019, have Joe Niemiec ranked third. First place is Greenville's James Quattlebaum. Former ASICS GTC-ELITE athlete and now triathloner Ricky Flynn is now ranked second.
Niemiec's teammate, Ryan Bugler is ranked fifth, while the program's Victor Pataky and Avery Martin are ninth and tenth. In the women's rankings, Cristina McKnight is ranked second, although not recently focusing on South Carolina events. Her most recent competition was placing ninth in the Great Cow Harbor 10K in Northport (Long Island), NY). She is ranked behind former Clemson standout and 2012 USA Olympic Trials qualifier (Steeplechase) Alyssa Bloomquist of Simpsonville, SC, who recently qualified for the 2020 USATF Olympic Trials Marathon. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.  Joe Niemiec (striped singlet). photo credit @ Michael Scott On a cool, sunny and windy (9-10 mph) Sunday morning, ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Joe Niemiec placed 106th in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. In his initial attempt at the 42.195 kilometer distance, Niemiec's goal was to run under 2:19:00 and qualify for the 2020 USATF Olympic Team Marathon Trials to be conducted in Atlanta, GA on February 29. He ran the first 25K (15.5 miles) at sub-2:20 pace, after passing 21.1K (half marathon) at 1:09:52. However, as is often the case in the marathon, he began to feel the effects of the effort between 25 and 30K. After slowing considerably over the final half of the race he finished with a time of 2:26:46.
GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.  Ryan Bugler, Cristina McKnight, Annie Rodenfels, Eddie Garcia, Avery Martin, Victor Pataky & Joe Niemiec Three male and one female ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athletes were among the top ten, respectively, in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings. The rankings, which were through October 6, 2019, had Eduardo Garcia ranked second to overall leader James Quattlebaum, also of Greenville. Garcia's teammates Ryan Bugler and Joe Niemiec were ranked 7th and 8th. Garcia has not competed since he placed 12th in the Pan American Games marathon in Lima, Peru in late July.
In the women's rankings, Cristina McKnight is ranked second. She is ranked behind former Clemson standout and 2012 USA Olympic Trials qualifier (Steeplechase) Alyssa Bloomquist of Simpsonville. Also, in the men's rankings ASICS GTC-ELITE's Zach Mains at 11th, Victor Pataky (13th) and Avery Martin 14th. Niemiec is scheduled for his debut at the marathon distance in Chicago on Sunday and Pataky will be running the Columbus Marathon the following week. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.
ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Annie Rodenfels won the BMW Performance Classic 2-Mile at BMW's Test Track in Greer, SC. On a cloudy and cooler Saturday afternoon she just missed the course record by a mere two seconds as she recorded a time of 10:30. The record was set in 2015 by ASICS GTC-ELITE athlete Alison Parris. It was Rodenfels', who also represented her employer Joy Real Estate in the Corporate Shield competition, second win in two races since moving to Greenville. The 2019 NCAA DIII national champion in the both the 5,000 meters and 3000-meter Steeplechase joined the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program in August.
GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.
ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Cristina McKnight ran a personal best of 35:37 to place ninth in a talented field at the 42nd edition of The Great Cow Harbor Run 10K in Northport, NY. It was just McKnight's second attempt at the 10K distance. She previously ran Atlanta's Peachtree Road Race 10K in July. She earned $300 for her placing on a beautiful Saturday morning on Long Island. Victor Pataky ran in the pack of frontrunners for much of the race over the undulating terrain, which included the infamous James Street Hill, before finishing in 30:52 to place 11th overall. It was 35-second improvement from 2018, when he placed 15th here. This was the deepest field in the race's long and storied history as six men ran under 30:00 and ten under 30:33. Futsum Zienasellassie of Flagstaff, AZ won the race with a time of 29:35 as he sprinted away from two-time Olympian and two-time defending champion Don Cabral of Hartford, CT. Ann-Marie Blaney of Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project (33:42) bested 2017 champion and new teammate Natosha Rogers for the women's title. Both winners earned $5000 and the runner-ups $2000.  Women's Top Ten at the Great Cow Harbor Run 10K GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.
 Bugler, Mains, Martin, Niemiec, Garcia and Pataky (l to r).  McKnight Three male and one female ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athletes were among the top ten, respectively, in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings. The rankings, which were through September 2, 2019, had Eduardo Garcia ranked second to overall leader James Quattlebaum, also of Greenville. Garcia's teammates Joe Niemiec and Ryan Bugler were ranked 7th and 9th. Those two placed first and second in the recent Edouard Michelin Memorial 5K with Bugler first and Niemiec two seconds behind. Garcia did not compete in that race as he recently placed 12th in the Pan American Games marathon in Lima, Peru.
In the women's rankings, Cristina McKnight is ranked second. She is ranked behind Alyssa Bloomquist (Simpsonville) and Kathryn Lazarchick (Charleston). OG Gardner, a training partner of McKnight's and who is also coached by Laura Caldwell, ranks sixth. Also, in the men's rankings ASICS GTC-ELITE's Zach Mains, Victor Pataky and Avery Martin rank 12th, 13th and 14th. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.
ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Ryan Bugler and Annie Rodenfels both ran to victories in the Edouard Michelin Memorial 5K Run on a muggy Saturday morning. Bugler ran 14:57 over the route consisting of rolling hills in the South Carolina Upstate countryside to best teammate Joe Niemiec (14:59) by two seconds. Their teammates Victor Pataky placed third, for the second consecutive year, with a time of 15:07, and Avery Martin was fifth in 15:25. Rodenfels, who also represented her employer Joy Real Estate in the GTC Corporate Cup competition, ran 17:11 to win the women's race and teammate Cristina McKnight was second at 17:27. McKnight was also an integral member of the winning, GE, corporate team.
It was the seventh consecutive year that an ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athlete won the overall title: Adam Freudenthal & Chas Armstrong (15:01) in 2013, Freudenthal (14:43) in 2014, Mark Leininger (14:54) in 2015, Austin Steagall (14:42 course record in 2016, then 15:03 in '17 and 14:44 in '18). On the women's side it was the sixth win in the last seven years for the GTC-ELITE women: Kimberly Ruck (17:37) in 2013, Alison Parris (16:52) in 2014, (course record 16:40) 2015 and (18:18) in 2017, and Dylan Hassett (17:02) in 2016. ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athletes now hold the top ten fastest times for both men and women for this annual event. Men's Fastest Performances at Edouard Michelin Memorial 5K 1. Austin Steagall, 14:42 (2016) *event record 2. Adam Freudenthal, 14:43 (2014) 3. Austin Steagall, 14:44 (2018) *current course record 4. Eddie Garcia, 14:48 (2018) 5. Mark Leininger, 14:54 (2015) 6. Ryan Bugler 14:57 (2019) 7. Joe Niemiec 14:59 (2019) 8. Adam Freudenthal 15:01 (2013) 8. Chas Armstrong 15:01 (2013) 10. Austin Steagall 15:03 (2017) Women's Fastest Performances at Edouard Michelin Memorial 5K 1. Alison Parris, 16:40 (2015) *event record 2. Alison Parris, 16:52 (2014) 3. Dylan Hassett, 17:02 (2016) 4. Annie Rodenfels, 17:11 (2019) *current course record 5. Kimberly Ruck, 17:16 (2014) 6. Cristina McKnight, 17:27 (2019) 7. Kate Dodds, 17:33 (2016) 8. Kimberly Ruck, 17:38 (2013) 9. Carolyn Watson, 18:03 (2016) 10. Alison Parris, 18:18 (2017) GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.  Eduardo Garcia, center, running to 12th place finish in Pan American Games Marathon. ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eduardo Garcia ran 2:19:12 to place 12th in the Pan American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru on Saturday. Garcia represented the US Virgin Islands on a cloud-covered morning with temperatures in the low 60s (F) and high humidity in the coastal city with a population of over 10 million people.
Garcia ran at the back of the pack through 5K in 16:33 and 10K in 32:55 (just under 2:19:00 pace). The leaders then increased the pace and gapped Eddie by 30 seconds over the next 5K segment as he passed 15K in 49:09. Garcia continued to follow the increasingly faster pace and passed the half-marathon marker at 1:07:22 (2:14:44 pace). Due to that increase in pace from 10K to 21K, Garcia slowed over the second half (1:11:50), but still finished only 22 seconds slower than his qualifying time. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.  Annie Rodenfels. photo credit: Centre College ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE is excited to announce the addition of Annie Rodenfels to the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. Rodenfels recently graduated from Centre College in Kentucky, where she majored in Psychology, with a minor in Gender Studies. She was the 2019 NCAA Division III national champion in both the 3000-meter Steeplechase and the 5,000 meters. She was the defending champion in the former as she previously won the 2018 title in the steeple, with what was then the fifth fastest time in DIII history.
Annie is a five-time All-American in track and field, earning the additional honors in the women's indoor 5,000 in 2019 with a runner-up finish, as well as another All-America recognition in the 3000m-steeplechase as a sophomore in 2017. She is the most decorated female student-athlete in Centre College history. In addition to the national honors, Rodenfels is a two-time Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Women's Track Athlete of the Year and owns ten different program records between indoor and outdoor track, including the 800m,1500m, 3000m-steeplechase and 5,000. In the meets leading up to the 2019 NCAA Championships, Rodenfels set the Division III record in the 3000m-steeplechase with a time of 9:58, becoming the first female runner in Division III to complete the race in under ten minutes. In cross country, Rodenfels is a two-time NCAA and USTFCCCA All-American, earning the honors in 2017 and 2018. Her third place finish at the 2018 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships is the highest finish by any Centre runner in the NCAA Finals, male or female. A winner of the 2018 SAA Women's Runner of the Year award, Rodenfels helped lead the Centre women's cross country team to conference championships in 2017 and 2018, and in 2018, the team earned its first automatic bid to the NCAA Finals in program history. "We are excited to have Annie move to beautiful Greenville and join our program," stated Director/Coach Mike Caldwell. "Laura (who will be Annie's primary coach) and I both believe that Annie has an excellent opportunity to continue to develop in the steeplechase as well as at other distances such as the 3,000 and 5,000. She will be a great addition to our program." Rodenfels commented, “I am incredibly honored and excited to be making this commitment to Greenville Track Club-ELITE in order to pursue a career in professional running! The opportunity to push my running as far and as fast as it can go is incredible, but I am that much more exited to be pursuing my goals with GTC-ELITE. I wholeheartedly believe that the opportunities here under the powerful force of Mike and Laura will help push me to be my best. I feel very lucky to be moving on from one great program onto another one, and am especially excited to help build a foundation alongside Cristina (McKnight) for another strong woman’s program in Greenville. Most of all, I’m eager to move down and begin my training and hopefully, achieve a lot more than I already have." Annie will relocate to Greenville following the 2019 USATF National Championships next week in Des Moines, Iowa, where she will be competing among the nation's best in the 3000m-steeplechase. She enters the competition with a seed time among the top 15 entrants. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF. |
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