asics Greenville Track Club-ELITE - a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program
established 2012
established 2012
 Joe Niemiec (photo by Jack Thompson/Runner's World) ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Joe Niemiec achieved his dream and goal of qualifying for the 2020 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon by running 2:17:23 at the Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday morning in the Texas city. He dropped 9 minutes 23 seconds from his debut marathon time of 2:26:46 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. Unofficial results show him placing 9th overall and second among USA citizens (2nd American finisher).
Joe moved his young family including wife, Jasmin, and three childeren from Michigan to Greenville, SC in 2018 to join the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program and pursue his lofty goal. Unofficial splits from the race indicate that Niemiec passed the 13.1-mile halfway mark in 1:09:12. He maintained a qualifying pace through 35 kilometers and then increased his pace over the final seven kilometers to average 5:15 per mile for the marathon distance (42.2K). Niemiec joins teammates Eduardo Garcia and Cristina McKnight as qualifiers for the Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA on Feburary 29. His time also is a new program record, besting Garcia's 2:18:50 from the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced 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 and three qualifiers for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 48-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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 Annie Rodenfels nearing the final turn. ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Annie Rodenfels ran 16:44 to win the 42nd annual Greenville News Run Downtown 5K. On a cold and grey Saturday morning, Rodenfels ran the second fastest time in the race's long history as she bested Alyssa Bloomquist (who currently leads the South Carolina Road Race Rankings) by ten seconds. Former ASICS GTC-ELITE Kimberly Ruck set the course record of 16:32 in 2015.
Rodenfels also represented her employer Joy Real Estate in the Corporate Shield competition. The event was produced by the 48-year-old Greenville Track Club and runs through downtown Greenville, SC. Annie's teammate, Eddie Garcia, ran his first race since last July's Pan American Games Marathon and placed third with a time of 14:56. 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 48-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.  ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE is excited to announce that Mackenzie Donahue will be joining the program in the second half of 2020. Donahue currently resides in her hometown area of Buffalo, NY where she works for Fleet Feet Buffalo as an inventory receiving specialist.
Mackenzie graduated from a small DII school called Daemen College, where she became their first athlete to qualify for an NCAA DII Championship. She qualified in Cross Country as well as Indoor and Outdoor track. She also became their first athlete to earn All-American (second-team) status. After graduating she continued to live in the Buffalo, NY area. Passionate about running, she continued to train and compete at the elite level in road racing and in some cross country and track races. She ran 1:17:09 to place sixth in the 2018 Richmond Half Marathon and attempted her first marathon at the 2019 Chicago event and ran 2:54:42. Her running resume also includes track performances of 16:52 for 5,000 meters, 35:35 for 10,000 meters and 54:47 for 15K on the roads. “We are excited to announce that Mackenzie will be joining our training group in the future,” stated Mike Caldwell, Director of the program. “Coach Laura Caldwell and I believe that Mackenzie has quite a bit of potential and that by training with our other female athletes and utilizing our resources she will be able to develop and achieve her running goals.” Mackenzie plans to relocate to Greenville to join the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program following her August wedding to long-time boyfriend Greg Lowe. 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 48-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.  Rodenfels (photo: Victor Pataky) ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Annie Rodenfels ran a new personal best in the 3,000 meters of 9:24.43 as she won the event at the Orange & Purple Elite meet at Clemson's indoor track facility. The 2019 graduate of Centre College in Kentucky improved her PB by almost 30 seconds as she lapped all of her competition on the 200-meter banked track. Clemson's Mikie Harris was second in 10:00.44.
Annie covered the first kilometer in 3:06.6 and passed 2K at 6:18.8 (3:12.2) before covering the final 1000 meters in 3:05.6. Her performance is a new ASICS GTC-ELITE program record, besting the 9:28.71 of Kimberly Ruck in 2015. GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles, two for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, 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 48-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.  Coach Laura Caldwell ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE coach Laura Caldwell will be one of the panelists at the
Nike NW Track and Field Clinic at the Tiger Woods Center on Nike's World Campus in Beaverton, OR, January 10-11. She is representing The Women's Running Coaching Collective (http://www.womensrunningcoaches.org), whose mission is to support, unite, inform, inspire, encourage, and empower women coaches at all levels of our sport. The collective consists of: Melissa Hill, Caldwell, Nikki Rafie, Helene Hutchinson, Kathy Mills Parker, Amy Yoder Begley, Robyn McGillis and Charlotte Lettis Richardson. The clinic is on Saturday, January 11, at 1 p.m. with focus on coaching the young female runner. Panelists will discuss the coaching, training, injury prevention, nutrition, and psychology of the young female runner. Panelists include: Laura Caldwell had a very successful coaching career at Lake Oswego HS in XC and Track and Field. Later she coached collegiately at Furman University (SC), and is currently coaching professional athletes at the Greenville Track Club-ELITE program, in South Carolina. PT Shawn Dailey of Therapeutics Associates in Lake Oswego and Nike has worked extensively with high school, college, and professional athletes. Nutritionist Michelle Tegankamp, former All American distance runner at Michigan State University, works with the Portland Trail Blazers and the University of Portland, as well as high school, college and professional athletes. Coach Marie Davis Markham, former Oregon HS State Champion in Track and XC, an All American at the University of Oregon, and current coach of the female distance runners at her alma mater, Lincoln HS in Portland, Oregon. For more information on the clinic, go to https://www.trackclinic.net.  Cristina McKnight and Joe Niemiec ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE'S Joe Niemiec is ranked second in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings, which were through January 4, 2020. Greenville's James Quattlebaum continues to lead the rankings. Niemiec most recently placed second to Quattlebaum in the TreesUpstate 8K on Thanksgiving day in Greenville and is currently preparing to run the Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday, January 19. In the women's rankings, ASICS GTC-ELITE's Cristina McKnight is ranked second, although not recently focusing on South Carolina events. Her most recent competition was placing 11th (among women) in the California International Marathon in Sacramento. In that race, she ran 2:40:40 to qualify for the upcoming 2020 USATF Olympic Team Marathon Trials in Atlanta, GA. She is ranked behind former Clemson standout and 2012 USA Olympic Trials qualifier (Steeplechase) Alyssa Bloomquist of Simpsonville, SC, who also recently qualified for the 2020 USATF Olympic Trials Marathon with a time of 2:41.24. South Carolina Road Race Rankings
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 48-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.
As we near the end of 2019, we thought it would be good to recap some of the year's highlights for ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE. Click Here.
ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE'S Joe Niemiec is ranked third in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings, which were through December 7, 2019. Greenville's James Quattlebaum continues to lead the rankings while Greenville's Cole Atkins is ranked second. Niemiec most recently placed second to Quattlebaum in the TreesUpstate 8K on Thanksgiving day in Greenville.
In the women's rankings, ASICS GTC-ELITE's Cristina McKnight is ranked second, although not recently focusing on South Carolina events. Her most recent competition was placing 11th (among women) in the California International Marathon in Sacramento. In that race, she ran 2:40:40 to qualify for the upcoming 2020 USATF Olympic Team Marathon Trials in Atlanta, GA. She is ranked behind former Clemson standout and 2012 USA Olympic Trials qualifier (Steeplechase) Alyssa Bloomquist of Simpsonville, SC, who also 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.
ASICS Greenville Track Club's Annie Rodenfels ran a personal best of 16:34.8 to place second in the 5,000 meters at the JDL Earlybird Invitational in Winston-Salem, NC on Sunday morning. The 2019 NCAA DIII national champion in the 5,000m bested her previous indoor best of 16:44.4 and also her outdoor best of 16:35.4. She passed 1600 meters in 5:12 and 3,000m in 9:47.
On Saturday afternoon, Avery Martin also ran a personal best in the 3,000 meters at the Clemson Indoor Opener, in Clemson, SC. Martin, whose primary event has been the 1500 and mile, ran 8:33 to place second in his first track appearance since July. The VMI graduate will be focusing on shorter distances for the indoor season. 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.
Cristina McKnight became the second ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athlete to post a qualifying time for the 2020 USATF Olympic Team Marathon Trials as she debuted over the 26.2 mile distance with a time of 2:40:42. Her time was well under the 2:45:00 qualifying standard as she placed 11th overall in the women's field and was the 8th American finisher. This year's California International Marathon once again lived up to its excellent reputation for presenting the opportunity for multiple qualifiers over the course from Folsom to the California State Capitol in downtown Sacramento.
Running with a large pack of Olympic Trials Qualifier hopefuls, McKnight ran splits of 18:48 at 5K, 37:33 at 10K, 56:42 at 15K, 1:15:34 at 20K, 1:19:36 at 13.1 miles (halfway), 1:34:29 at 25K, 1:53:24 at 30K, 2:12:39 at 35K and 2:32:07 at 40K. Cristina relocated to Greenville to join the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program in March 2019 with a half-marathon personal best of 1:18:21 and has seen steady improvement under the direction of Coach Laura Caldwell. They set a goal of qualifying for 2020 USA OT Marathon in Atlanta on February 29 and achieved that goal in spectacular fashion. Eduardo Garcia had previously qualified back in January at the Chevon Houston Marathon, with a time of 2:18:50, but opted to represent the US Virgin Islands in last summer's Pan American Games in Lima, Peru and will not compete in Atlanta. 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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