Nathan Green Anchors Huskies To Victory Over Oregon, Texas A&M; Margot Appleton Leads Virginia To Women's DMR Title

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

Photos by John Nepolitan

INTERVIEWS

PHILADELPHIA — Nathan Green likes the “Miler U” moniker his Washington Huskies squad has earned, but he believes they are more than just milers. Their win in the men’s collegiate distance medley relay at the Penn Relays presented by Toyota — in which Green split a 3:55.15 anchor leg en route to a 9:25.22 overall finish — proved that, he says.

“It just shows that we’re not a one-trick pony,” Green said. “It’s really cool that everyone believes that and everyone thinks that, but it’s even cooler when we get to do these types of things and show that that’s not all we are.” 

Early on, it looked like Villanova’s race to lose; Marco Langon put the Wildcats in great position with a 2:55.18 1,200 leg. After a 48.87 400 leg, though, they were out of the race, and a 45.83 leg by Texas A&M’s Cutler Zamzow gave the Aggies the lead. Texas A&M stayed in first through the last handoff, as Sam Whitmarsh split a 1:46.75, but he couldn’t build a big enough lead to hold off Green. The Aggies finished third behind Washington and Oregon.

Green said this performance was far from what he and his teammates will be capable of later in the season; when asked to describe their training as of late, he kept it simple: “Hard. It’s been hard.”

“We’re very far from the end of the season and even farther from our goals down the road,” Green said.

This may be the last DMR opportunity of the season, but the Huskies have already made the mark on the event this year; in February, they set the collegiate record with a 9:14.10 performance on their home track.

Virginia won the women’s race in 10:42.16, as Margot Appleton split a 4:21.16 on the anchor leg. After taking the baton three seconds back from Clemson, she heeded her coach’s advice and got out hard, putting herself in the lead pack relatively quickly. That put her in the best position for the win, she said, but it also made the final stretch painful.

“It hurt the last 200,” Appleton said, laughing, “but I wanted to win so badly, and I wanted to win for them because everybody did their part today and that was really special.”

Providence finished just behind in 10:42.57, led by Kimberley May’s 4:24.54 anchor leg. 

South Florida Men, TCU Women Win 4x200s

South Florida defended its title in the men’s 4x200 relay, crushing the rest of the field with a 1:21.06 performance — runner-up Texas A&M finished over a second back at 1:22.23.

The Bulls nearly swept the 4x200s, as they did last year, but TCU didn’t let that happen. The Horned Frogs, led by Iyana Gray, won the women’s race in 1:33.04. Gray said her team’s cohesion is what allowed them to come away with a victory — she says they’re a family on and off the track.

“We all had one goal today, and that was to win,” Gray said. “We all had that on our minds, and I feel like that’s what pushed us today to win this title.”

Later on, Clemson won the women’s sprint medley relay in dominant fashion; after taking the baton three seconds ahead of the field, Gladys Chepngetich furthered the Tigers’ lead with a 2:03.23 split on the 800 leg.

Georgetown capped off the day’s college events with a win in the men’s sprint medley relay. Anchor Tinoda Matsatsa, who was lauded by his teammates afterwards as “the best 800 meter runner in the country,” took the baton in fourth and threw down a 1:46.41 split, blazing ahead of Penn State and Texas A&M in the home stretch.

The Hoyas’ squad consisted of Matsatsa, a sophomore, and three freshmen: Aaron Guillaume, Joshua Davenport and Jaden Marchan. They didn’t hesitate to predict that they’ll be taking home another wheel next year.