2025 Highlights
GreenvilleTrack Club-ELITE athletes competed in the following locations during 2025:
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JANUARY
- 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.
- 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.
- Davonte Jett-Reynolds and Ryan Drew placed first and third in an exciting men's 3,000-meter race in the Bob Pollock Invitational hosted by Clemson University on Saturday afternoon. Jett-Reynolds took the lead midway through the final 200-meter lap and crossed the finish line with a time of 8:01.34. He was followed closely by Georgia Tech's John Higinbotham (8:02.23) and Drew in 8:03.10. The top five finishers were between 8:01.34 and 8:03.41 as seven ran under 8:10. Davonte's time was less than 1.5 seconds off his personal best of 8:00.03 and is the second fastest in GTC-ELITE history. Ryan's time now ranks third. Between them they have eight of the top ten performances in program history.
- Davonte Jett-Reynolds took the lead after 1600 meters and ran the final 1400 meters in front as he won the men's 3000-meters in a personal best of 7:57.9. It was his second consecutive victory at the Clemson Indoor Facility this month as he previously won the Bob Pollock Invitational with a time of 8:01.34 on February 1st. Davonte's kilometer splits were: 2:41.23, 2:42.55 and 2:34.12, and he now has the top three 3000m performances and six of the top ten in GTC-ELITE's history.
- Ryan Drew returned to his alma mater at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to compete in the Darius Dixon Memorial Indoor Meet. Ryan won the Invitational Mile with a time of 4:04.42. That time is the fastest in GTC-ELITE's Indoor Mile program history.
- Jason Weitzel and Jack Mastandrea competed in the 2025 USATF Half Marathon Championships on a cold (33 degrees) and very windy Sunday morning in Atlanta, GA. The elite race started at 7:17 am, just before the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon, and covered a challenging (hilly) route through Atlanta with the start and finish adjacent to Mercedes Benz Stadium and the Home Depot Backyard public area. The race was the selection event for September's 2025 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships to be conducted in San Diego, CA, with the top three male and female placers in Atlanta earning spots on the USA team.Weitzel, coming off his January personal best of 1:02:28 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, ran impressive 5, 10 & 15K splits of 14:27, 29:18 and 44:20, respectively, on his way to an 18th place finish in 1:03:16. That was a 4:50 per mile pace on the undulating course. Mastandrea split 14:45, 30:01 and 45:38 en route to a 30th place finish in 1:05:07 (4:58 per mile). Jason's time is the number two All-Time Half Marathon clocking in GTC-ELITE history, only behind his Houston performance.
- Ryan Drew took an early lead and ran from the front to win the men's 1500-meters at the 49er Classic conducted at Charlotte University on Friday afternoon. He finished with a time of 3:47.09.
- Jack Mastandrea ran 29:56 to place 12th in the huge Cooper River Bridge Run 10K in Charleston, SC on Saturday morning. It was the same finish placing as in 2024 for Jack, although times were slower this year due to the warmer and very humid conditions. His teammate and training partner, Jason Weitzel, had an off-day as he slowed over the final kilometers and placed 16th with a time of 30:46. That was well off his personal best for this race of 29:22 in 2022.
- Ryan Drew ran 4:09 to place second overall (by only one second) in this year's Governor's Cup Main Street Mile in downtown Columbia, SC on Friday evening. Ryan ran among the front pack as it made the 180-degree turnaround at halfway. Greenville's Coen Roberts led there in 1:57. As the leaders ran back up the slight incline to the finish and into a headwind, eventual winner Ali Abdilmana and Drew passed Roberts with less than 200 meters remaining. Drew then made an attempt to overtake Abdilmana, but the Ethiopian held him off to win in 4:08. The winner earned a $500 check, while Drew received $400 for his effort and Roberts $300.
- Jason Weitzel ran 29:48 to place second in the 47th edition of the United Community Reedy River Run 10K in downtown Greenville, SC on Saturday morning. With the temperature at 59-degrees for the 7:15 am start, Jason followed now-five-time winner James Quattlebaum around the 10K course that crosses the Reedy River at six different places. Weitzel was just shy of his 29:44 winning time in 2024. It was also his fourth runner-up placing in this historic event. Since 2021 Jason has placed among the first two finishers on each occasion. His top three time performances are 29:44, 29:47 and 29:48. Jason earned $625 for his performance, including $400 for second place, $175 for breaking 29:50 and $50 as second South Carolina resident.
- Ryan Drew ran 3:45.05 to place third in the men's 1500-meter at the Charlotte Invitational at UNC Charlotte. He ran a fine 1:57.7 for 800m between 300m and 1100m, but slowed over the final 200. It was still the best 1500m performance in GTC-ELITE history, besting his 3:45.58 from this meet in 2024. Later in the evening his teammates, Davonte Jett-Reynolds, Jason Weitzel and Jack Mastandrea, ran in the 5,000-meter Invite and placed second, third and fifth, respectively, in the field of 34. After a rather pedestrian pace between 200m and 600m (70 seconds) the pace slightly quickened as eventual winner Rogerio Amaral of the University of South Carolina led through 1000m in 2:49.89. The three GTC-ELITE runners were just off the lead and among the top five. At 3,000m all three were less than one-second off the lead and were at 8:28. The high humidity seemed to affect the pace as almost everyone slowed after 3400 meters. However, Amaral's pace picked up significantly over the last kilometer as he won in 13:54.1. Jett-Reynolds closed with a final 400 of 64.04 to place second in 14:03.44. Weitzel was third in 14:13.5 and Mastandrea was fifth at 14:25.95.
- Ryan Drew ran 3:45.55 in the men's 1500-meter event at the Duke Twilight meet on Sunday evening. After passing the first 300 meters in 5th place (in Heat 3) at 43.55, and 700 meters in 1:45.18 (1:01.6), he took the lead with a 1:00.39 lap (2:45.53 at 1100m) despite running wide in traffic. He closed the final 400m in 1:00.01 while finishing fifth in that heat. His time was .5 second off his 3:35.05 at the Charlotte Invitational last weekend. Davonte Jett-Reynolds placed fourth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:01.84. He ran with the lead group and was in third place after 1800 meters, passed in 6:05.93. He then dropped back to seventh position before passing 3,000m in 8:23.48. He remained in that position as his pace slowed slightly to 69-70 seconds for the next few 400m, before rallying for a final lap of 1:02.3. That was the fastest final lap of any of the 20 finishers. His time was slightly faster than the 14:03.44 he ran at the Charlotte Invitational last weekend.
- Ryan Drew ran 4:07.7 to place sixth in the Men's Pro Race at the second annual Meck Mile in Charlotte, NC on Saturday evening. He improved from his eighth place (4:14.3) finish last year and was over 6.5 seconds faster. The time is the fastest "road mile" in GTC-ELITE's 12-year history even though the Charlotte course is somewhat challenging with a few tight turns and up and downhill segments. Ryan earned $250 for his placing.
- Announced that Noah Fisher is joining the program. A graduate of Ohio's University of Findlay, Noah was a two-time NCAA DII All American in cross country and also in track in 2024.
- Ryan Drew ran a program best of 4:01.81 to place second in the Mile at the Music City Track Carnival. After clocking 2:00.59 at 809 meters, he assumed the lead in the third lap passing 1209 meters in 3:01.11 and still led at 1500 meters (3:44.68). He was passed down the homestretch by Furman University's Colin Eckerman, who won in 4:00.91.Ryan's GTC-ELITE teammate Davonte Jett-Reynolds was in the next event, the Men's Pro 5,000, and also placed second. Davonte finished with a time of 14:24.56.
- Ryan Drew and Davonte Jett-Reynolds placed first and second in the annual Greenville Track Club Classic/USATF South Carolina Open & Masters meet Saturday. On a sunny, warm and windy early June morning Drew ran 4:09.4 and Jett-Reynolds 4:12.0 to easily best the field at the Eastside High School track. Drew, coming off his 4:01. mile at last week's Music City Track Carnival used this meet to maintain his racing fitness as he prepares for upcoming races this summer, while Jett-Reynolds gained some speedier work before his 5,000-meter race next week at the Portland Track Festival. Davonte paced the first 300 meters before Ryan took over and passed 409-meters in 1:01.7. Drew opened a gap of over four seconds with one lap remaining before Jett-Reynolds closed with a 1:01.08 final 400.
- 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. - 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.
