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In the recent 2012 Olympic Trials, NIRCA had one of their very own compete for a spot on the 2012 U.S.A Olympic Marathon Team. Lauren Philbrook of Penn State Club Cross Country placed 39th out of 152 competitors. Lauren finished with a final time of 2:39.47 as one of 2 twenty-four year-olds in the top 40 finishers (the other being Clara Grandt, 7th place). The Houston trials was Lauren's second marathon! She qualified for the Olympic trials in her first marathon back in 2011 in Pittsburgh where she finished with a time of 2:45.11, 7th overall and the 2nd place American. Given these times, Lauren PR'd over 5 minutes! You guys may remember Lauren from the 2009 NIRCA Nationals where she lead the PSU women's team to their 3rd national title with her first place finish ahead of Oregon. Lauren joined PSU Club XC after graduating from Williams College in Massachusetts where she claimed the title as the NCAA D-III Outdoor Track & Field Champion in the 10k in 2009 with a time of 35:46.62. I had to opportunity to sit down with Lauren to discuss her experience at the trials a little more in depth.

Bloomington, IN–November 14, 2011–NIRCA is partnering with the Indiana University Athletics Department and Hoosier Sports Corp to host the first NIRCA Track National Championships. This event will combine with the IU Mini Marathon’s partnership with the NIRCA Half Marathon National Championships to offer NIRCA member clubs a weekend of Track and Road National Championships.

Charlotte, NC - November 12, 2011 - After testing weather’s fate five straight years in the north, NIRCA took Nationals to the sunny southern state of North Carolina, and the weather did not disappoint.  Enthusiasm in Charlotte was apparent as a record number of teams streamed in on Friday afternoon for the official course preview.  An apparently flat and fast course had anticipations running high for personal best performances.

Virginia sent a loud and resounding message to the rest of NIRCA on October 29th. The Cavaliers will be a factor in deciding the 2011 national champion and Penn State is vulnerable.

The Mid Atlantic Regional saw UVA hand the Nittany Lions their first loss to a NIRCA school since 2008 with a stunning 26-30 victory. Behind a 1-2-3 finish, Virginia was impressive, as they have been all year with big wins at JMU and in their home invitational. But the 2:06 spread between runners 1-5 at regionals could be a cause for concern in a bigger meet. The good news, that spread gets a lot smaller when you add Anna Gordon, UVA’s #1 who didn’t run at regionals, into to the mix.

If the team race at Nationals is anything like the Regional Championships, we are in store for one entertaining men’s championship.

Four of the six regionals decided their men’s team champion by 6 points or less with Indiana besting Michigan 49-50 at Great Lakes, Iowa State getting by Illinois 33-39 at Great Plains, Cal Poly over USC in the Southwest 35-39, and Delaware taking down Virginia in the Mid Atlantic on a tie-breaker after both clubs scoring five totaled 43 points. Add in the two other regional champions and former NIRCA national champions, North Carolina and Oregon and you can see why this should be one of NIRCA’s most memorable men’s championships.

28 seconds. That is the total amount of time, over the last two championship races, that has separated Clemson grad student Wallace Campbell from a NIRCA national title. But the back-to-back runner-up is once again among the favorites of the 2011 men’s field after a dominating season.

What do you get when the top nine finishers from last year’s national championship aren’t returning?...A wide open championship race in 2011! After years of epic battles featuring names like Mohror, Philbrook, Schnepp, Woods, Belli, and Knight we see a field with a lot of brand new stars on the rise and women who have waited their turn patiently in NIRCA, now ready to take aim at a title.

Iowa State holds Illinois at bay from mid-season to post-regionals, as the teams gear up for the Nationals push. The former midwest still holds the cards on the top teams, but will that be the actual outcome?