Nearing the completion of our fourth year of existence, ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE has established itself among the top post-collegiate, Olympic development programs in the Southeast and in the nation. The program has expanded from initially having only one athlete in the fall of 2012 to a consistent number of eight to ten over the past two years. One of our objectives was to have our athletes qualify for national championship events and for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials. We achieved the later when four ASICS GTC-ELITE runners qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon and traveled to Los Angeles in February. Our women also placed 8th nationally at the USATF National Club XC Championships last December in San Francisco. 

With our growth and development, we continue to evolve and have exciting plans for the next stage including strengthening and adding to our supportive group of partners and sponsors. While many of our followers only see the results from our athletes' racing performances, those accomplishments are obtained through the training efforts that occur on a daily basis. 

"When we only had a couple of athletes it was fairly easy to keep up-to-date on their daily training, etc. However, as we have grown, we wanted to have increased feedback so that we can monitor and adjust to each athlete's needs in real time," explains director/coach Mike Caldwell. "We were already using an on-line system and were fairly happy with it's functionality. However, when we were approached by Final Surge and began to test it, we were pleasantly surprised. Not only do we get immediate feedback when each athlete inputs their training session, but we also have the ability to write and modify each athlete's training plan online. We also like the communication features such as each athlete receiving an email with their next training session and being able to post comments in response to the workouts."

"We use individual goal setting for each of our two training macrocycles each year and tracking and evaluating each run or workout is vital to evaluating progress towards attaining those goals. Final Surge provides us the tools to plan, access and exchange information with our primary assets--our athletes."

GTC-ELITE produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and is sponsored by ASICS, the Greenville Track Club, Performance Therapy, Greenville Health System's North Greenville Hospital, ScanSource, Soleus Running Watches, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery, FinalSurge, Joy Realty, The TD Bank Foundation, The Kroc Center, Carolina Spine and Rehab, The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, the Bare Minimum Track Club and generous individual contributors. ​​​​​​

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Dylan Hassett ran a personal best in the highly competitive women's 10,000 meters at the Portland Track Festival on Saturday evening. On a cool, clear Oregon evening Hassett lined up with some of North America's top women distance runners in what has become one of the elite distance festivals in the country. After covering the first 1600 meters in a quick 5:15 and then 3200 meters in 10:34, the College of William & Mary graduate passed 5,000 in 16:41. 

Soon after she lost contact with the second pack of runners and ran alone in "no man's land" for the final 4 kilometers. She finished with a new personal best of 34:03.64, besting her previous track best of 34:26.95 by just over 23 seconds. She placed 24th in the field of 32.

Immediately following the women's race, ASICS GTC-ELITE's Mark Leininger took to the track for the men's 10,000. The early pace was very quick with the designated pacers clipping off 66-second laps as they attempted to set up a sub-28:00 minute race. Leininger ran in the back portion of the trailing group and covered the first 1600 in 4:36 and 3K in 8:46, before slightly slowing to 14:47 at 5K. As with his teammate Hassett in the previous event, he also lost contact and ran alone for most of the final 4 kilometers. He finished with a time of 29:48.68 for 24th place in a field of 40. 

Both Hassett and Leininger completed their 2016 track season in a year that saw them both qualify for the USA Olympic Trials Marathon and compete in that event in Los Angeles. 

GTC-ELITE produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and is sponsored by ASICS, the Greenville Track Club, Performance Therapy, Greenville Health System's North Greenville Hospital, ScanSource, Soleus Running Watches, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery, FinalSurge, Joy Realty, The TD Bank Foundation, The Kroc Center, Carolina Spine and Rehab, The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, the Bare Minimum Track Club and generous individual contributors. ​​​​​

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE is happy to announce that Austin Steagall will be joining the Greenville, SC based post-collegiate, Olympic development program in July. Steagall, a recent graduate of the University of Mt. Olive in North Carolina is a South Carolina native and graduated from Gaffney High School before attending Spartanburg Methodist College. 

Austin recently earned NCAA DII All American honors by placing 2nd in the 3000-meter Steeplechase at the national championships conducted in Bradenton, FL. At that meet, he qualified for the finals with a time of 9:04 in the prelims and ran a personal best of 8:55.46 in the finals on the following day. He came back the next day to place 11th in the 5,000 meter championship race with a time of 14:29. 

"We are excited that Austin has decided to pursue his running dreams and goals by joining our program," announced program director and coach Mike Caldwell. "We've observed Austin at various events over the past few years and believe he has the capability to continue to develop his talents. He was very inexperienced at the steeplechase, but placed second nationally at the DII level, so that may be an event we consider going forward. However, we also see some potential at both the 5,000 and 10,000 on the track and will hit a few of the road events, too."

​Austin's personal bests include an 8:18 for 3,000 meters indoors, a 14:08 clocking over 5,000 meters and a 30:17 for 10,000. He was a three-time qualifier for the NCAA DII national championships in the 5,000, with a best finish of 11th (this year). 

GTC-ELITE produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and is sponsored by ASICS, the Greenville Track Club, Performance Therapy, Greenville Health System's North Greenville Hospital, ScanSource, Soleus Running Watches, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery, FinalSurge, The TD Bank Foundation, The Kroc Center, Carolina Spine and Rehab, The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, the Bare Minimum Track Club and generous individual contributors. ​​​​​

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Dylan Hassett placed second in the women's 5,000 meters at the 14th annual Music City Distance Carnival. The meet, which was originally scheduled to be conducted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville had been relocated to Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro during the days leading up to it.

Hassett took the pace-setting chores for the first 3K, before being passed by eventual winner Erica Speegle of the Big Island Running Club, and finished with a disappointing time of 17:04.38. "I have been having really good workouts, so I'm not sure what happened tonight," she explained following the race. 

Mark Leininger placed fourth in the men's 5,000 in a race in which the ever-threatening rains finally fell from the cloud-ladden skies. He ran with the lead pack for the first 3500 meters before dropping off the pace over the final kilometer and finished with a time of 14:25.8. Sean Keveren of Ragged Mountain Running Club won with a time of 14:07.17. 

Chelsi Woodruff completed her first 3,000-meter Steeplechase of the season with a time of 10:41.75 for 5th place, while winner Elizabeth Graney ran 9:51.56 to qualify for the upcoming USA Olympic Trials next month in Eugene. OR. 

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE is happy to announce that Ryan Root will be joining the post-collegiate, Olympic development program in July. Root graduated from North Central College in Illinois, where he competed for the DIII distance powerhouse under legendary coach Al Carius. He recently worked with the University of Illinois Track & Field program as a volunteer assistant. Ryan is currently a resident of Champaign, IL, where he was raised after being born in Riverside, CA. 

During his collegiate career, Ryan placed as high as 5th at the NCAA DIII national championships in the 3,000 meter Steeplechase and earned All American honors. His personal best in that event is 9:03. He also ran 14:34 for 5,000 meters indoors and placed 10th at the national championships. In cross country, Root ran 24:05 for 8,000 meters. 

"Ryan has a real passion for distance running and comes from one of the stronger DIII programs," states ASICS GTC-ELITE director and coach Mike Caldwell. "When we established our program less than four years ago, one of our objectives was to provide a unique environment for young, aspiring athletes to develop their distance running talents. We are happy to be able to provide such an environment for young men like Ryan. We believe he can become an asset to the program in the future and add to the 'power of the group' philosophy that we continue to develop. We plan to work with Ryan to improve over the 10,000 and half-marathon distances and eventually the marathon."

GTC-ELITE produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and is sponsored by ASICS, the Greenville Track Club, Performance Therapy, Greenville Health System's North Greenville Hospital, ScanSource, Soleus Running Watches, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery, FinalSurge, The TD Bank Foundation, The Kroc Center, Carolina Spine and Rehab, The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, the Bare Minimum Track Club and generous individual contributors. ​​​​