Greenville Track Club-ELITE - a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program
11 USA Olympic Trials Qualifiers
established 2012
11 USA Olympic Trials Qualifiers
established 2012
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Greenville Track Club-ELITE is excited to announce that Jack Mastandrea will be joining the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program and relocating to beautiful Greenville. Jack is a graduate of the University of Charleston in West Virginia, where he also earned a post-graduate MBA degree. Jack had collegiate personal bests of 13:48.09 for 5,000 meters and 29:02.95 for 10,000m. Post graduation he posted a personal best of 1:03:43 for the Half Marathon and 2:17:28 for the Marathon. The latter qualified him for the upcoming 2024 USATF Olympic Team Marathon Trials next February in Orlando, FL. He trained with and competed for the Hansons Distance Project in Michigan for just over a year. Jack recently visited Greenville to meet the coaches and team and then made his decision to join the program. He explained, “I’m looking forward to keep raising the bar for myself as an athlete, and to work with Coach Caldwell to help prepare me for the Olympic marathon trials. The team was very welcoming, and I look forward in training with them to help them achieve their goals”. "We are happy and excited that Jack has decided to join our program, GTC-ELITE Director/Coach Mike Caldwell explained. "He will be a good addition to our current group of athletes and should have excellent training partners in our veterans Eddie Garcia and Jason Weitzel, and also another new addition, Karl Thiessen, as those four will focus on distances from 5,000 up through the marathon." This announcement is a continuation of the recent additions including Thiessen, Davonte Jett-Reynolds and Ryan Drew. The latter two are focusing on the 1500m - 5,000m distances, but will do much of their training with the others. The program also is anticipating the return of Brent Leber, following his second surgical procedure on his ankle, which he injured in his final NCAA competition in May of 2022. Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is in its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic development program. 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, three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA and one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase. 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 51-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, UCAN energy products, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility), On Pace Wellness (nutrition coaching) 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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Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eddie Garcia and Jason Weitzel are ranked second and third in the most recent South Carolina Road Race Rankings published by USATF State Record Keeper Bill Marable. Garcia, coming off his recent victories at the Sunrise 8K and the Red, White and Blue Shoes 5K, moved into second place in the new rankings. Weitzel had been ranked second for 20 consecutive months before the August rankings. Garcia had been ranked third for the previous six months. Both athletes are ranked behind 2022's South Carolina Long Distance Runner of the Year James Quattlebaum. Quattlebaum, who represents Run In, previously won the SCLDROY honors in 2019 and 2021. Garcia, was the 2020 SCLD Runner of the Year in 2020. GTC-ELITE alums Ricky Flynn (Greenville) and Roland Hakes (now residing in Columbia) are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. South Carolina Road Race Rankings |