Greenville Track Club-ELITE - a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program
established 2012
11 USA Olympic Trials Qualifiers
One Paris 2024 Olympian
established 2012
11 USA Olympic Trials Qualifiers
One Paris 2024 Olympian
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Greenville Track Club-ELITE had a good showing at the annual Red, White and Blue Shoes 5K at Furman University on July Fourth. Ryan Drew defended his event title from 2024 and also ran a new course record of 14:13 to win. He took the lead from the start and led all the way as he improved his winning time from last year by 47 seconds. His teammate Noah Fisher, running his first race as a member of GTC-ELITE, was a close second with a time of 14:17 (which is believed to be one of five fastest times in race history). They were followed by 37-year-old GTC-ELITE alum Ricky Flynn with an outstanding 14:24. Ricky's time should be a new South Carolina Age 37 Record besting his own record of 14:39.
Ryan's time of 14:13 is equal to Jack Mastandrea's for second place on the GTC-ELITE All Time 5K performance rankings. They both trail Jason Weitzel's 14:12 by one second. Noah's 14:17 is equal to sixth on this list. All Time TOP TEN GTC-ELITE Road 5K PerformancesGreenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles; one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru; three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR; and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.
The program is sponsored and supported by the 53-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.
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Davonte Jett-Reynolds, whose nickname is "Fetty," joined Greenville Track Club-ELITE in the summer of 2023 to pursue his running dreams. In his time with the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program he improved his personal bests for the 1500, 3,000 and 5,000-meter events and now holds the 3000m program record. He also ventured to the roads and won the 2025 GTC Run Downtown 5K. Fetty has been a valuable and memorable member of the team and is employed at Fleet Feet Greenville. His career interest is collegiate coaching, which he has an opportunity to soon explore. Ten Questions with Davonte. 1. You have been in Greenville for the past two years, but have now accepted a new position elsewhere. What will your life look like after leaving Greenville” DJR: After leaving Greenville I will be pursuing my dream of being a collegiate coach at Central Arizona college! That is where I started my running career! 2. What will you miss about GVL after you move to Arizona for your new job? DJR: I will miss the early morning runs with my boys on the GTC-ELITE team! 3. What would be your favorite memory of living in Greenville? DJR: My favorite memory of living in Greenville, would have to be meeting my girlfriend! 4. What is your favorite restaurant in Greenville? DJR: Stax's Original is my favorite restaurant. It was the first place I ate at in Greenville and I love the southern cooking! 5. What was your favorite workout with GTC-ELITE? DJR: My favorite workout is hands down the Specific Economy! FYI: Specific Economy is a GTC-ELITE session in which the athlete runs at a specific "race pace" for 1000 to 3000 meters, followed by some faster repeats or hills. 6. What was your most impressive race during your time withGTC-ELITE? DJR: My most impressive race would be the 3,000 meters Indoors that I ran at Clemson when I broke 8:00 for the first time! 7. What did you learn in the GTC-ELITE program that will assist you in your new coaching position? DJR: I learned from the GTC-ELITE program that will help me in my future coaching position is to help runners find their “why”! 8. GTC-ELITE has 12 Maxims as guidelines. Which one meant the most to you? The maxim that I loved the most and that really grew on me was number 7 which is “under promise, but over deliver." 9. What is your favorite training footwear? DJR: Definitely have to be the ASICS Gel Nimbus! 10. Do you have a funny story regarding any of your teammates? DJR: My favorite story would definitely have to be about Ryan (Drew)! We were all eating breakfast and I walked into the kitchen, making some type of funny noise! Ryan loudy said to me “DO YOU MIND.” I turned and looked and Ryan was attempting to fish a pop tart out of the toaster, that was still plugged, using a metal knife. I was in such disbelief and I called Karl (Thiessen) to come in the kitchen and see and then asked Ryan if he’d mind continuing to live. Karl then screamed at Ryan to stop before he killed himself. Ryan had no idea that he shouldn’t put a metal knife into a turned on toaster! Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles; one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru; three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR; and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.
The program is sponsored and supported by the 53-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF. Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Jason Weitzel improved his personal best (PB) by 85 seconds as he ran 2:14:28 to place sixth overall at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN on Saturday morning. Despite a 30-minute race start delay (from 7:40 to 8:10 am) due to severe weather and then the extremely high humidity, Jason ran in a pack of competitors that passed 5K in 15:32 and 10K at 30:42--which is sub-2:10:00 pace. As the temperature began to rise on what would be the warmest day in Duluth this year, Jason covered the first 13.1 miles in 1:06:01. With the temperature warming he completed the second half of the race in 1:08:27, and continued to move up in the deep field which included nine sub-2:10 marathoners. He earned $3000 for his sixth place and another $800 for breaking 2:15:00 for a nice payday of $3800. Jason was also the 4th US citizen finisher. It is also believed to be the fastest marathon performance by someone with Type I diabetes. Jason's teammate and training partner Jack Mastandrea ran with him through 5K and passed 10K in 31:03 and halfway at 1:07:50. However the early pace and environmental conditions caught up and he slowed over the remainder of the race to finish in 22nd place with a time of 2:24:05. That is well off his PB of 2:15:58, which he ran at last December's California International Marathon in Sacramento, CA. Both teammates surpassed their pre-race seedings of 28th (Jason) and 29th (Jack). Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles; one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru; three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR; and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.
The program is sponsored and supported by the 53-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF. Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Davonte Jett-Reynolds ran a new personal best (PB) of 13:56.82 in the Men's 5,000-meter High Performance event at the Portland Track Festival on Sunday night. Following a slowish first 200 meters he ran the next three laps in the 65-66 second range before slowing to 68s for the next five circuits. He slightly quickened his pace over the next two laps and finished with a much faster 59.25 final 400 meters. That was the second fastest final lap of the two High Performance heats and placed him 14th overall. His time bested his previous PB of 13:57.94, run at the 2024 Raleigh Relays. Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles; one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru; three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR; and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.
The program is sponsored and supported by the 53-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF. Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Ryan Drew had a memorable Saturday morning as he ran 23:54 to break the year-old course record by 12 seconds in the 46th edition of the GTC Sunrise Run 8K in Simpsonville, SC. This was the third consecutive year that a GTC-ELITE athlete won by setting a new course record. Eduardo Garcia ran 24:07 in 2023 and Karl Thiessen bested that with a 24:06 in 2024. The rolling 8-kilometer course didn't pose a problem for Drew, who almost missed the race as his car ran out of gas on the freeway before 5:00 am on his way to Simpsonville. However, he overcame that situation and was on the starting line for the 6:16 am sunrise start. After an opening 4:44 mile, his final time averaged 4:48 or 2:59 per kilometer.
Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles; one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru; three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR; and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.
The program is sponsored and supported by the 53-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF. In the South Carolina Road Race Rankings, published on June 11 by USATF SC Record Keeper Bill Marable, the top nine runners remained the same as the previous month. Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Jack Mastandrea is ranked second, while his teammates Jason Weitzel, Davonte Jett-Reynolds and Ryan Drew are ranked fourth, sixth and eighth, respectively. Former GTC-ELITE members Ricky Flynn and Roland Hakes are ranked third and ninth. James Quattlebaum of Greenville is ranked first for the fourth consecutive month, a spot he has occupied many times previously. The top four, and eight of the top ten, men are from Greenville while the other two reside in the Midlands of the state. South Carolina Road Race Rankings |
1. James Quattlebaum, (29, Greenville) 2. Jack Mastandrea (27, Greenville) 3. Ricky Flynn (37, Greenville) 4. Jason Weitzel (28, Greenville) 5. Solomon Kagimbi (37, Columbia) 6. Davonte Jett-Reynolds (27, Greenville) 7. Coen Roberts (22, Greenville) 8. Ryan Drew (27, Greenville) 9. Roland Hakes (32, Irmo) 10. Sergio Cuartaz (22, Greenville) * GTC-ELITE ** former GTC-ELITE *** trains with GTC-ELITE |
Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is in its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris, four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles, one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru, three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA, one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE also produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year. The program is sponsored and supported by the 52-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF. |