“You can’t get by running slow in D3.”

A called back race and an illegal wind separated us from seeing the men’s 200m and women’s 100m record get broken at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships this year. Good news? Both JP Vaught and Bailey Forsyth will be back next year to go after those records.

This episode features The Fastest Man and Woman in D3 right now. Both JP and Bailey won the 100m/200m double at Nationals and almost took some records with it. Some heavy winds left JP just outside the Top 10 lists, but that won’t last long.

In a breakout year, Bailey is now the seventh-fastest woman in the 100m and the fourth-fastest woman in the 200m.

Both JP and Bailey took different paths to find their current college, Centre and Pacific Lutheran, respectively.

JP won a few state titles in high school and received a few Division-I offers but a pulled muscle in his back junior year dried up those calls. Coach Lisa Owens and Edwin Hagans of Centre stayed in contact with him and showed him that he can be special at Centre.

Bailey wasn’t sure if she even wanted to continue running in college. With high school personal bests of 12.61 for the 100m and 25.76 for the 200m, her focus turned to academics in case she wasn’t able to find a place to run. Coach Frye made Bailey realize the opportunities she could have while running at Pacific Lutheran and that was enough to get her out for the team.

Both runners are time focused individuals with goals of breaking records next year that brings a new perspective to this traditionally distance-focused podcast.

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SHOW NOTES AND QUOTES

JP on D3 Sprints right now: “You can’t get by running slow in D3”

JP on finding the right fit in a college: “Don’t worry about the division, how big it is, or what other people would think about it. Worry about the coaching, the academics and worry about if you can see yourself there. Talk to the coaches and see if people are running better than when they came in.”

Bailey on her breakout year: “It was kinda wild. I ran a good time then I ran another good time. After I broke 12, I thought huh something is happening here”

Bailey on coming back for a fifth year: “You know what, I’m never going to get to do this again. Why not take this extra year of eligibility and do it. This season was crazy but now I know I’m good and I know I can do it. Let’s see how fast I can be and how low these times can go.”