Director of T&F/XC @ Lee U. | 155 All Americans | 10 national champions | 57xCoach of the Year | 2xGSC Coach of the decade | Coached 6 athletes to 8 DII records
What are the biggest differences in going D1 in track & field vs every other sport? There are NO divisions in the regular season for track & field. WE ALL COMPETE TOGETHER! A time or mark carries the same relevance in D1, D2, D3, NAIA, or JUCO.
I always find it amusing certain D1 schools don’t allow any none D1s to attend their meets, then this weekend every year they all flock to LA to run at Mount SAC hosted by a JUCO and Bryan Clay hosted by Azusa Pacific a DII school 😂
Christian Noble’s 13:37 5k record performance fun facts:
slowest 200 was the first 200m of the race 33.6
1st mile 4:23
2nd mile 4:22
Last mile 4:19
1k splits:
2:44, 2:44, 2:44, 2:44, 2:41
🚨 90 minutes after running 3:56 in the mile. Christian Noble breaks his own DII record in the 3k running 7:50!! Yes, you read that right two DII records in 90 minutes🚨
Distance coaches:
When it’s a recovery day, don’t just send your athletes out on their run -
join them. If you can’t run with them, jump on a bike. Some of the best conversations about what’s going on in their lives, team culture, and goal setting have been on recovery runs.
DII national champion 6 weeks ago, 3rd in the world today. Congrats
@TrevorBassitt30
once again showing that you don’t have to go D1 to be a superstar, you can do it anywhere.
Christian Noble DII
#2
all time for 5k 13:24 for the win at Raleigh Relays! So proud of this guy, huge PR taking down top D1 talent (including D1 national 10k champion) and a few pros!
Insane year for mens distance running in DII. This is what it takes to guarantee a spot at nationals (16th spot in each event)
800m - 1:50.31
Mile - 4:04.11
3k - 8:00
5k - 13:59
DMR - 9:44
In 2019 8:00 for 3k and 13:59 for 5k would of ranked you
#1
going into nationals.
Toughest part of my job is establishing relationships with college athletes for 5 4 or 5 years, seeing them 6 days a week 9 months of out of the year, talking to them a couple of times a week the 3 months of the year they are not with you, then all of the sudden they are gone 🥲
Age 23:
Before morning run
7:00am alarm
Drink a glass of water, use the bathroom, brushteeth
7:15am start 1st mile 7:03
Age 33:
6:23am kid wakes me up, coffee, yoga, water, use the bathroom, stretch hips & hamstrings
7:17am start, stiffly runs
1st mile 8:12
Can’t wait for 43
ALL male distance athletes at Lee University for Fall 2021 to Fall 2022. High School marks and college marks listed.
Also have years at Lee and eligibility remaining.
Come be a 🔥Flame🔥 we have one of the highest development rates in the country.
Heading home with championships 24 & 25 in the
@NCAADII
era for
@LeeUTFXC
3rd region title in 5 years for the men
Back to back region titles for the women. First time ever winning both Region Championships in one day.
DMR Champions! NATIONAL RECORD (9:34)! 10 All-Americans’s, 3 school records! All on Day 1 of
@NCAADII
Indoor nationals! Also if you are wondering what
@little_nobes
split was on the DMR anchor we are pretty sure it was 3:53 high……
Sometimes you have to knock on the door a few times b4 they let you in,
#headinghome
with
@leeuflames
1st individual national champion (x3),1st top 4 team trophy, & 11 All-Americans! Thankful to all of
@leeu
and the sacrifices that were made for our teams to compete this season
Are there really divisions in Track & Field? In the regular season we all compete together. A mark is a mark. If your good in our sport you know it, no matter the division. Being at a D1 school doesn’t make you a good athlete. Your marks tell the true story of how good you are.
New personal best for Aria Hawkins in the 1500m 4:27 to place 13th at nationals! So proud of her, 5:45 in the mile a year ago to a 4:46 equivalent today, and 2:28 in the 800m to 2:11 this year! What a season for the GSC XC, indoor, and outdoor freshman of the year!
What a special day! June 25th will forever be known in Cleveland, TN as “Christian Noble Day.” Thank you so much to
@MayorKBrooks
and the Cleveland City Council for the recognition! Well deserved
@little_nobes
thank you for all you have done to make
@LeeUTFXC
what it is today.
Fantastic season
@little_nobes
! First time at 🇺🇸 USA Championships, finished 14th in the 1500m and 18th in the 5000m. What a year with four DII records 3:56 mile, 7:50 3k, 3:35.99 1500m, and 9:34 DMR. Also DII
#2
all time in the 5000m 13:24. So proud of his career with
@LeeUTFXC
With the extent of documentation & police reports
@HuntingtonUni
allowing coaches involved to still be on staff shows a total neglect to the athletes. Secondarily, the
@NAIA
awarding national athlete of the week to an athlete from a program that is known to use PEDs is appalling.
Celine Ritter 1k splits in tonight’s 3k DII record:
3:04, 3:06, 3:01 = 9:11 breaking the 36 year record by 5 seconds. This record was the oldest of any DII record indoor or outdoor.
First mile 4:54.7
Second mile 4:53.9
Celine is now ranked
#1
in DII in the mile 4:44 and 3k
Strong threshold run this morning for this group! Christian Noble prepares for the USA championships in the 1500m (3:36), Aria Hawkins prepares for the U20 USA Championships in the 1500m (4:27), Celine Ritter prepares for the German Championships in the 1500m (4:17)
#1500msquad
We confuse hard work with productive work. Having athletes push themselves is relatively easy. Straining, intensity. You feel like you are being productive. But are you getting better? Is it contributing to growth? That's what matters. Working harder isn’t always working smarter.
Aria Hawkins the TRUE freshman goes 4:33 in the 1500m and 2:12 in the 800m this weekend breaking both freshman records! So proud of her, she went 2:25 in the 800m and 5:42 in the mile just a year ago!
Looking for a high quality distance meet? Check out the Flames Invitational on 4/7-4/9. We are setting up some fast races. If you want to make some money as a rabbit, specifically men’s 1500m and women’s 5k let me know!
Progression rate of our
🔥Lady Flames🔥
This is ALL female distance athletes from Spring 2020 to Fall 2022.
High School marks and college marks listed.
Also listed, time spent at Lee and years remaining.
We have one of the highest development rates in the country!
When your athletes start arriving on campus & they come by the office to say hello & catch up after the summer you remember why you love to coach. It’s for the relationships. So thankful for the amazing group of athletes I have the privilege to work with. Exited for another year.
Heading home NCAA Region titles
#8
$
&
#9
- 1st men’s and women’s team ever to win b2b region titles. These 2 championships make 37 total for
@leeutfxc
since moving to the NCAA in 2015. Thankful for the amazing group of athletes and assistants I get to work with. One more to go!
Heading home - GSC titles
#27
&
#28
for
@LeeUTFXC
, 7 straight for women’s XC & 17 straight with indoor, outdoor, & XC combined. Men pick up back2back GSC titles in XC and their 6th title in 9 years. Thanks
@LeeUFlames
for the amazing coverage &
@LeeUFlamesAD
for cheering us on!
Congrats to Celine Ritter, she placed 3rd in the 1500m with a 4:18 then came back in the 5000m a couple of hours later and went 16:17 to place 5th! Celine is now a 2 time national champion, DII record holder for 3k, 9xAll-American!
Love this! I private coached this 44 year old from 18:01 in the 5k to 17:13, and 5:30 in the mile to 5:11 in just 5 months. Love having the opportunity to help people achieve their goals at any level.
Lots of PRs by the distance squad yesterday. Also note worthy Toni Moore’s 4:34 event win in the 1500m. Danielle and McLain (17:24) 1-2 finish in the 5k.
When things go poorly in training we always want to reflect at how we got to that point. It’s equally important to reflect after a good block of training or successful season. Write down what went well. Taking notes is always important no matter the circumstance. Be a note taker
Let your athletes be heard. Every single one of them has something to contribute. They all have different perspectives and experiences. Don’t ever assume you know it all just because you are the coach. Collegiate athletes are smart, utilize their voice.
Christian Noble and Aria Hawkins will attempt to make the USA World team 🇺🇸 this week in Eugene, Oregon.
Noble:
Thursday 1500m prelim 9:35pm ET
Saturday 1500m final 4:52 ET
Sunday 5k final 5:03 ET
Hawkins:
Saturday 1500m (U20) final 7:52 ET
Catch the action live on NBC
Evan Jager looking like a contender for a medal in the steeple, love the come back after struggling with injuries for the last 4 seasons. Great crowd in Eugene, way to show out USA fans 🇺🇸
#WorldAthleticsChamps
#usatf
What an amazing performance by
@LeeUTFXC
women yesterday! We were only beaten by D1 ranked teams, and were just 1 point off of
@Stanford
What an incredible group of women. Team culture, positive vibes, and team leadership are so important. This team gets!
@little_nobes
Rupp - He may not be the fastest ever but has a reputation for best workouts. 2 mile 8:07 AR in 2014, 15-minute post-race break, five times a mile, with 400-meter recoveries between, in 4:21, 4:20, 4:20, 4:16, and 4:01. With more recover I say 6-7 sub 4s in 24 hours
A couple of NCAA qualifying marks for these guys in the 1500m! 3:47 for Will Stone and 3:49 for Carson Bix! Crazy personal bests for the rest of the 🔥’s behind with Lagat 3:50, Himes 3:52, Judge 3:52, Hatcher 3:55! Noble’s DII record attempt tonight awaits at 11:30pm ET…..
ALL male distance athletes at Lee University for Fall 2021-Spring 2023. High School marks and college marks listed.
Also, years at Lee and eligibility remaining.
Come be a 🔥Flame🔥 we have one of the highest development rates in the country.
When I first started coaching my athletes would have a great workout and I would think “we are really good.” Now I know it’s not one workout that tells fitness. It’s the accumulation of a whole cycle of training, the consistency, the effort, the recovery.
If you eat clean, go the gym, do little things to recover faster, or to improve your physical shape you're cheered and seen as dedicated.
If you seek out a counselor to work on your mental shape, you should be seen in the same way, dedicated to what you are doing.
Celine Ritter with a big PR 2:09.10 in the 800m. Ritter is now ranked
#2
in the 1500,
#2
in the 5k,
#2
in the 10k, and
#7
in the 800m nationally! What can’t she do 🤷♂️
Big time day! 24:04 average team time, only losing to last years DII champions Grand Valley State.
24:01 - Eckenroad
24:01- Rodriguez
24:03 - Stone
24:07 - Judge
24:12 - Fowler
24:17 - Himes
24:40 - Clark
Luke has been asking me to take him to the track to run for a year, I don’t want him to burn out from starting to young. When all of your athletes are gone sometimes you change your mind. Had fun with this guy today he did a 400 in 2:07 and wanted to run more. Not bad for age 5.
Heading home…GSC titles
#25
&
#26
Thankful for amazing athletes & blessed to have an amazing group of coaches to work with. Thanks
@LeeUFlames
we have the best support staff, administrators, athletic trainers, media department and strength coaches in the country!
It’s always fun to see where your team would stack up in other regions. D1 polls came out today. The highlighted teams are ones our men have beat this season.
I have had a lot of people reach out recently about training advice. Feel free to message me, I love to help athletes and coaches get better. Anyway I can give back to the sport I will.
Heading home, GSC title
#15
Thankful for my athletes who make my job so easy. Thank you
@GulfSouth
for giving us the opportunity to compete this season. Competing is a privilege not a right. Thank you for allowing me to do what I love.
@mlwalker59
@LDCarpenter24
@colemstrong
Excited to announce I had another athlete I private coach hit their training goal. She went from 3:33 in the marathon down to 3:07 qualifying for the Boston marathon. I am bringing on one additional person, if you are interested feel free to DM me (no high schoolers).
GSC title
#7
for the XC and Track & Field programs. Couldn’t ask for a better group of athletes that always put the team first! When it’s about WE and not ME amazing things happen!
🚨Record ALERT🚨
Celine Ritter smashes her school record in the 1500m going 4:14 with a blazing last 800m of 2:13, last 400m in 64 taking down an elite field! This time moves Ritter up to
#6
all time in DII and just 3 seconds off the all time DII mark.
Happy Birthday
@LDCarpenter24
thanks for spending your day with us! Hope you enjoyed GSC titles
#13
&
#14
for
@LeeUTFXC
Thank you
@colemstrong
for coming out to support us! Our teams are backed by amazingly supportive administrators. We couldn’t do what we do without you!
2:38:29 for my debut Marathon today in Atlanta. Placed 8th overall out of 2,100. A lot of fun! Time to get on a course that doesn’t have 1800 feet of elevation so I can drop my time by a couple of minutes. Congrats to
@leeutfxc
alumni
@MatthewJenkins2
2:37 (6 minute PR)
My team is sending me videos of them working out at the track 😥. Had 7 men and 6 women together today. Wish I could be there. They are crushing it as usual. So proud of a dedicated group that always puts in the work no matter the circumstance!
Heading home GSC title
#16
.
9 straight for the women’s programs between XC, Indoor, and Outdoor track! Love being able to coach an amazing group of women who always show up on championships day no matter the circumstance! Shout out to
@ayy_yo_slink
@CharleeBoxall
and
@megd0ug
So proud of the career Toni Moore had with us as a Lady Flame. From a JUCO transfer with solid PRs to a 5xAll-American in 3 years with some extreme progressions in each event:
3k SC - 11:47 to 10:30
5k- 18:35 to 16:36
1500m - 5:01 to 4:31
You never tried to make things about you