D3 Highlights: Aidan Ryan's Monster 7:55 Effort & Impressive 3k Times From Heeringa and Mayfield

Written by Brett Haffner & Kevin Fischer, additional contributions via Garrett Zatlin

The D1 and D2 levels weren't the only divisions that posted exciting distance marks this past weekend! Below, two of your three favorite D3 specialists, Brett Haffner and Kevin Fischer, teamed up to offer some highlights and analysis about the key performances that we this past Friday and Saturday.

Let's jump into it...

Aidan Ryan Runs Monster 7:55 (3k) Time at UW Preview

At the beginning of the cross country season, Aidan Ryan was likely the favorite to earn the individual national title crown. He was coming off of an unattached spring season where he ran 13:51 on the outdoor oval, proving that he had made further improvements on fitness since his 10th place finish at the cross country national meet two years ago.

It's true, Ryan didn't win gold this past fall, and was instead the 4th place finisher at the November national meet. Even so, when you consider his extreme rise within the D3 realm since 2020, his development has still been incredibly impressive.

Now, this year, John Carroll’s Alex Phillip has taken charge of the D3 scene. The distance running superstar went undefeated throughout last fall apart from his 6th place finish at the Paul Short Gold race (which featured numerous D1 talents) and has since run a huge personal best of 13:58 for 5000 meters at Grand Valley State.

And yet, during Phillip's rise, it seemed like people were forgetting what Aidan Ryan was capable of doing as a national-caliber star.

Luckily for distance fans around the NCAA, the Williams veteran showed us his true star power with a jaw-dropping mark of 7:55 for 3000 meters at the University of Washington against a loaded field featuring professional athletes and high-level D1 and D2 competitors.

This is the fastest 3000 meter time in Division Three history, but it won’t count as a record-eligible performance due to the race being run on a 300 meter track.

Now that Ryan has re-established himself at the top of D3 ranks, we would like to see what he can run in the mile and the 5000 meters. He was a 1500 meter national champion in 2019 and ran 4:05 in the mile during the 2020 indoor season. Based on his recent 7:55 effort, he should be able to go even faster now.

Of course, now the question is...how much faster?

We could realistically see Ryan in the 4:02 range this winter, but maybe, just maybe, he could make an honest attempt at a sub-four performance.

As for the 5000 meters, it seems fair to say that Ryan is just as fit as the time when he ran 13:51. Of course, running on an indoor oval and an outdoor oval are very different. Although his recent 7:55 mark suggests that he could run under 14 minutes, it's important to remember that this Williams' star has only ever run one indoor 5k in his career (back in 2018).

In other words, the 5k seems like a wild card event for Ryan.

We also can't ignore the fact that Williams will likely take a DMR to the indoor national meet. If they do, then Ryan will almost certainly be anchoring it. If that happens, then we're guessing that Ryan attempts the DMR/3k double come March.

And once that weekend is finished, he could have two gold medals around his neck.

Calvin's Heeringa Posts Breakout 9:46 (3k) Performance

Calvin’s Sadie Heeringa has been competing at a high level for a while now. She was a national qualifier in the mile during the 2020 indoor season and replicated the same honor in the 1500 meters last spring.

This past fall, she earned All-American honors on the grass with a 24th place finish at the cross country national meet.

Despite her established presence in the D3 world and boasting an already-impressive resume coming into this season, Heeringa has managed to jump up yet another level in her fitness. Her recent 9:46 effort for 3000 meters at the GVSU Bob Eubanks Invitational puts her in the same caliber as some of the biggest and best D3 names in the country.

Heeringa is currently sitting at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard for the 3000 meters behind only Ella Baran and Evie Miller (formerly Bultemeyer), and just ahead of Clara Mayfield (who we'll get to in a moment).

For perspective, Heeringa’s 9:46 result, which gets converted to 9:51 strictly for qualification purposes, would have ranked her at NCAA #5 at the end of the 2020 indoor season, although the event will likely end up being more competitive this year.

Nonetheless, this rising Calvin star is in a great position to earn All-American honors this winter. She has consistently posted top finishes and fast times, rarely ever faltering when in any race she toes the line for.

However, what’s really intriguing is that the mile has been Herringa's primary event in previous years, so we'll be curious to see what she ends up racing at the indoor national meet. After her performance this past weekend, the natural suggestion for her would be to run the 3000 meters.

Even so, we can’t help but wonder what she can do in a mile. She has already run 4:58 for that distance, has proven that the mile can be her primary event and has made significant overall improvements.

Doubling is always an option as well, and given her quietly great consistency that we mentioned earlier, we wouldn’t be shocked to see her end the season as an All-American in both distances. On paper, her consistency bodes well for a potential double.

Braden Nicholson Returns to North Central & the D3 Realm

Back in 2020, as a freshman running for North Central, Braden Nicholson ran some impressive marks of 8:27 (3k) and 14:37 (5k), the latter of which qualified him for the indoor national meet before COVID struck.

Despite his early collegiate success, Nicholson found himself transferring to a D2 midwest powerhouse, Southern Indiana. During his time with the Screaming Eagles, he qualified with his team for the 2021 NCAA XC Championships. He had cross country personal bests of 24:42 (8k) and 31:40 (10k), but his only recorded track mark was a 4:19 mile back in 2021.

In a move not seen too commonly, Nicholson has since transferred back to North Central and debuted this past weekend, running 8:31 in the 3000 meters behind the soon-to-be mentioned Chicago talents of Henry Myers and Sam Craig.

That's a solid mark to start the season, but considering how much success he's had at North Central previously, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Nicholson run stronger national-level marks throughout the rest of this season.

University of Chicago Women Flex Mile Depth

Chicago had seven women entered in the mile at the North Central Cardinal Opener on Saturday. In that race, they swept the first seven spots, with all of their athletes running 5:21 or faster.

First-year star Claudia Harnett, who we have spoken about previously in our Freshman Class Rankings, won the race in a time of 5:06. She was followed by teammates Kaitlyn van Baalen and 1500 meter national qualifier Maddie Kelly, who both ran 5:10.

It's still early in the season, but that trio currently sit in the top-five of the national leaderboard for the mile. Given the past success that we've seen from Kelly and how well Harnett has run as of late, it seems likely that these women will run even faster than those times later this season.

Outside of the seven women who ran the mile on Saturday, the Maroons also have Lucy Groothuis who ran a 5:11 mile in her season opener last weekend. She also holds a 1500 meter personal best of 4:39. Chicago also has four additional freshmen who ran 5:15 or faster in high school.

The Maroons are off to a very impressive start this winter by flexing their depth in the mile. We'll be curious to see how these Chicago talents move up and down in distance from this event, potentially earning better marks in distances that are better suited for their unique strengths.

If it wasn't clear already, these ladies have likely assembled one of the deepest distance contingents in Division Three this year. In fact, the idea of a national qualifying DMR seems almost probable, especially with so many weapons to choose from and a long season that could produce major improvements.

It’s safe to say that these milers make up one of the better event groups in the country. For perspective, Chicago's top-four mile times so far this season would have finished eighth in USTFCCCA’s 2020 final event squad rankings.

And like we said earlier, they still have two months to improve upon their current results.

Henry Myers Runs 8:21, Teammate Sam Craig Runs 8:23

As strong as the University of Chicago women were this past weekend, it was their men's team that made some noise of their own this past weekend.

Henry Myers had a huge breakthrough performance, winning the 3000 meters at the North Central Cardinal Opener in a time of 8:21. Teammate Sam Craig finished just two seconds behind him with a mark of 8:23.

Craig’s performance does not come as a surprise...at all. He is a national qualifier in the 5000 meters and finished 9th at the cross country national meet this past fall. We knew he was capable of a race like this and that he can contend for an All-American spot in March.

Sure enough, he confirmed those suspicions with a very solid opener.

Not only that, but given his past success, one could argue that Craig will potentially improve upon this mark later this winter. The Maroon veteran is on a hot streak after racing on the grass and even on the indoor oval, it seems like he can do no wrong. Once he shakes off the early-season indoor rust, he could be a more dangerous than he already is.

As for Myers, he was a top-level miler prior to this year with a 1500 meter personal best of 3:51, but he wasn’t as proven when it came to the longer distances.

He had a solid cross country season, finishing 4th place at the Midwest Regional Championships and just missing out on All-American honors with a 54th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

However, none of those results suggested that he would (or could) run as fast as he did. His 8:21 mark is a level above anything that he has ever shown us before in any distance over 1500 meters.

We'll be interested to see how this performance translates to other events, specifically the mile. The mile is historically his best event and Myers has already run a nationally competitive time in the 3000 meters, meaning that it will be less of a priority for him over the next month or two.

If his recent 3k performance directly translates to the speedier mile distance, then in theory, we should expect a 4:13 mile time (or faster) out of Myers later this winter.

When you consider that his mile PR sits at 4:16.91, that projected time seems fairly realistic.

Clara Mayfield Opens With 9:54 (3k) Personal Best

It feels like Clara Mayfield can do no wrong. After a tough outing at the 2021 outdoor national meet, the Carleton star has been cool, calm and collected. She breezed through the cross country season and earned a 10th place finish at the national meet. Then, this past weekend, she opened up her indoor track season with a 9:54 effort for 3000 meters.

That's a strong time for the long distance standout who shook off her early-season rust better than most women (and men, for that matter) usually do in the month of January.

However, our biggest takeaway should be the fact that Mayfield's 9:54 mark is actually a new personal best, previously running 9:55 (twice) during the 2020 indoor track season.

Obviously, a lot has changed in the past two years, but the fact that Mayfield is already bettering her personal best shows us that she may not be done making improvements at this distance.

Not only that, but when you pair an instant PR and a phenomenal cross country season, you usually get a new 5000 meter personal best as well. In the right setting, Mayfield should be able to improve her 5k PR to a time under the 17 minute barrier.

Her current indoor best of 17:16 is long overdue for a reset.

Keep an eye on Mayfield as the season unfolds. Between an underrated outdoor season, a cross country season with no poor performances and a fast opener, this Carleton ace is primed to post a handful of new personal bests in almost every distance she contests.

Otterbein’s Bill Daily Posts Breakout 4:12 Mile Performance

Otterbein has been a consistently solid distance program over the last few years, developing some new faces who have since earned national-level recognition.

Bill Daily is one of those fresh faces who has begun to earn national acclaim, recently making his indoor debut with an impressive 4:12 mile opener. He also doubled back to run a time of 2:30 in the 1000 meters as well.

A junior at Otterbein, Daily has already shown some great range in his college career, having run personal bests of 1:55 (800), 3:54 (1500) and 15:00 (5k) all in 2021. This performance, however, brings a new level of firepower that we had not seen from him previously.

It wouldn’t be too surprising to see Daily throw down a national-level mark in the 800 meters or the 3000 meters considering his range, but we shouldn’t necessarily count out the 5000 meters, either! His well-roundedness will pay some dividends throughout this track season, especially if his recent uptick in fitness follows him to other events.

If it does, then in theory, his versatility could make him perfectly suited to handle any race scenario thrown at him on the national stage.