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
|
|
Greenville Track Club ELITE's Jason Weitzel knocked a whopping 1 minute and 32 seconds off his previous Personal Best by running 1:02:28 in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon on Sunday morning. On a cold (33 degrees) and windy morning, Jason's splits were 14:41 at 5K, 29:22 at 10K, 44:18 at 15K, 47:38 at 10-miles, and 59:21 at 20K. The 15K, 10-mile and 20K times are also the fastest times in GTC-ELITE history. Weitzel's finishing time also breaks Jack Mastandrea's GTC-ELITE program record of 1:03:49 by 1 minute and 21 seconds. That record was set only two months ago in the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon--the same event where Weitzel had run his previous PB of 1:04:00. In Houston, Jason placed 34th in the deepest finish in the race's long history and was the 15th USA citizen finisher among the international field. "We are extremely proud of Jason's performance," stated GTC-ELITE Director/Coach Mike Caldwell. "He has trusted our process and we expected him to have a breakthrough performance if the conditions cooperated." Jason texted Caldwell at 5:45 am CST (one hour before the race start): "definitely gonna tuck in at all costs it’s sufficiently windy - my kinda weather though." A native West Virginian, Jason prefers the colder temperatures. The Aramco Houston Half Marathon has been a good race for GTC-ELITE the past two years as Eduardo Garcia and Karl Thiessen both broke the previous GTC-ELITE program record with times of 1:03:57 and 1:04:00 in 2024. That record was later surpassed by Garcia (1:03:53) in Istanbul, and Mastandrea 1:03:49 in Indianapolis. Houston has also been memorable as both alum Joe Niemiec and current athlete Eduardo Garcia ran personal best marathons to qualify for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials marathon. All-Time GTC-ELITE Top Ten Half Marathon PerformancesGreenville 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.
0 Comments
Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Davonte Jett Reynolds pulled away from Coen Roberts over the final 400 meters to win the 46th edition of the Greenville Track Club's Run Downtown 5K. On a damp and cold mid-January morning Jett-Reynolds covered the somewhat hilly route in 14:35, which is the sixth fastest time in the race's long history. Roberts finished five seconds later in 14:40 with GTC-ELITE's Ryan Drew third in 14:43. His GTC-ELITE teammate Jack Mastandrea was fourth in 14:48, in his first race since the California International Marathon last month. Sergio Cuartas, who also trains with GTC-ELITE, was fifth in 14:50. All-Time Sub-15 Times at GTC Run Downtown 5K 1. Jason Weitzel, GTC-ELITE - 14:12 (2024) 2. Austin Steagall, GTC-ELITE - 14:14 (2017) 2. James Quattlebaum, Run In - 14:14 (2023) 4. Jack Mastandrea, GTC-ELITE - 14:27 (2024) 5. Jason Weitzel, GTC-ELITE - 14:29 (2023) 6. Davonte Jett-Reynolds, GTC-ELITE - 14:35 (2025) 7. Jason Weitzel, GTC-ELITE - 14:37 (2022) 8. Adam Freudenthal, GTC-ELITE - 14:40 (2013) 9. Eduardo Garcia, GTC-ELITE - 14:40 (2023) 9. Coen Roberts - 14:40 (2025) 11. Walter Bugler, Run In - 14:41 (2020) 11. Cole Atkins - 14:41 (2020) 13. Ryan Drew, GTC-ELITE - 14:43 (2025) 14. Jack Mastandrea, GTC-ELITE - 14:48 (2025) 15. Sergio Cuartas - 14:50 (2025) 16. Adam Freudenthal, GTC-ELITE - 14:52 (2014) 17. Joe Niemiec, GTC-ELITE - 14:53 (2019) 18. Austin Steagall, GTC-ELITE - 14:54 (2018) 19. Eduardo Garcia, GTC-ELITE - 14:56 (2020) 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. During the year 2024 Greenville Track Club-ELITE athletes competed in the 25 following locations:
There were many highlights, including Eduardo Garcia's selection for and participation in the 2024 Paris Olympic Marathon, and multiple GTC-ELITE program records: 1500m 3,000m, 5,000m on the track and 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K and Half Marathon (3 times) on the roads. JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
DECEMBER
GTC-ELITE's Mastandrea and Weitzel Still Ranked 1st & 2nd in South Carolina Road Race Standings12/13/2024 Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Jack Mastandrea continues to be ranked first in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings published by USATF State Record Keeper Bill Marable. His teammate and training partner, Jason Weitzel, remains second in the rankings. It is the fourth consecutive month that Jack has been ranked first, while Jason has been ranked among the top three for 37 straight months. Their teammate Ryan Drew is currently ranked sixth. Jack and Jason have frequently exchanged places during 2024 with Weitzel winning the Downtown Greenville 5K in January and Mastandrea placing second. Then Jack placed ahead of Jason at the 2024 USATF Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando and was 12th (29:03) overall at Charleston's Cooper River Bridge Run, while Jason was 14th (29:24). Jason then won the United Community Reedy River Run 10K with a time of 29:44, while Jack was third. Jason ran 29:13 and Jack 29:31 for 10,000 meters on the track at the Portland Track Festival in June. Then Jack placed 7th and Jason 9th in the USATF 8K Road Championships at the Crazy 8s road race in Kingsport, TN on July 20. Jack then placed 13th in a deep field at the USATF 20K Championships in the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race on September 2 while Jason did not run there. Jack and Jason also competed in September at the USATF 10K Championships at the Great Cow Harbor 10K in Northport, NY, placing 10th and 12th respectively. They then placed second and third in the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon on November 9th with times of 1:03:49 for Jack and 1:04:00 for Jason. And last weekend Jack ran a huge personal best of 2:15:57 at the California International Marathon in Sacramento. However, many of the previous mentioned events were not within the confines of South Carolina and did not factor in the SC Road Race Rankings, as both Jack and Jason competed in prestigious events nationally. Jack & Jason Head-to-Head Competition in 2024
GTC-ELITE alums Ricky Flynn (Greenville) and Roland Hakes ( Columbia) are ranked 4th and 8th. Greenville runners occupy six of the top ten ranking positions. Sergio Cuartas, who frequently trains with GTC-ELITE, is ranked 7th. South Carolina Road Race Rankings |
1 Jack Mastandrea (26, Greenville) 2 Jason Weitzel (28, Greenville) 3 James Quattlebaum (29, Greenville) 4 Ricky Flynn (37, Greenville) 5 Hunter Jarvis (26, Columbia) 6 Ryan Drew (26, Greenville) 7 Sergio Cuartas (21, Greenville) 8 Roland Hakes (31, Irmo) 9 Caleb Chistiansen (23, Cayce) 10 Alex Marchek (27, West Union) |
11/6/2024