This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 15,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this week's newsletter: – Making 4.748 Mile PB jokes is an American tradition ? – The NCAA All-Merber Team ?‍? – LAST CALL FOR THE OLYMPIC TRIALS!!! ? – How much is a PB worth to you? ? + more rapid-fire highlights from the past week You can read this week's newsletter ..read more

"I have this road map for what I believe will make the best Olympic final for me...I just want to make sure that the training's there. If the training is there, I am the best 1500m runner in the world. I just need to make sure there's consistency. So the way that I look at races is: What can I do to bring the most value to that race as well as learning as much as possible from that race?" 2023 1500m world champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain will headline the field for the men’s two mile at the 116th Millrose Games at The Armory on Feb. 11, race organizers announced. Kerr, who is also the reign ..read more

"It's not like I'm jogging on those days [that I’m running] or that I'm cross-training easily. I think people underestimate what I'm doing. When I cross-train, there are puddles of sweat on the floor to the point that our recreational center has to put out 'Wet Floor' signs because I sweat that much. One time, they put an 'Out of Order' sign on my machine because they thought it was leaking. Little did they know, it was my sweat."  Florida’s Parker Valby just won the 2023 NCAA Cross Country individual championship title after a runner-up finish behind NC State’s Katelyn Tuohy in 2022. She ..read more

“I think the thing that characterizes DII, DIII and NAIA athletes is that they're super passionate about running in a way that differs from DI athletes. I always see the DIII guys and gals who are going to keep running well after college. They love it and that’s why they’re going to the smaller schools out of high school – because they want that opportunity to keep running. There’s way more passion rather than ‘I’m the best at this and there’s a scholarship on the line so I may as well do it.’” The Lap Count’s Kyle Merber and Noah Droddy, 2:09 marathoner and D3 Glory Days Podcast host, talk th ..read more

This is The Lap Count newsletter by Kyle Merber, as read by Chris Chavez. Join more than 15,000 people who stay up-to-date with all the thrilling action and biggest stories in the world of track & field – delivered right to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://thelapcount.com/⁠⁠⁠ In this week's newsletter: – NCAA XC at Panorama Farms ? – Parker gets hers! ? – Back-to-Back-to-Back ? – 387 years in the making! ? – The passing of the dynasty torch? ? – Thoughts from the booth ? – Minus One Olympic Trials Qualifier ?? + more rapid-fire high ..read more

"I try to divert a lot of the attention from me towards the team because it really is a lot bigger than just me and my performances. I have a lot of supportive teammates and great staff at Harvard – so that's one thing I try to do. The other thing is just to stay in the moment with the guys. In the end, I'm a part of this team and that's the most important thing. I don't really want to isolate myself as an individual on the squad. We are the squad. We refer to ourselves as 'the hive mind'. I think we even said that on the line at NCAAs – three, two, one, hive mind.” Harvard’s Graham Blanks jus ..read more

MEN’S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION | GRAHAM BLANKS – Harvard’s Graham Blanks made history as the first-ever man from the Ivy League to win the men’s cross country individual title. He raced patiently before starting to make his move with a kilometer remaining in the race and was able to pull away from New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel (a 17th place finisher at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships). Blanks covered the 10K course in 28:37.7 to win by three seconds. – Blanks completed a perfect 5–0 season that included wins at the Battle in Beantown, Nuttycombe Invitational, Ivy League Championships a ..read more

MEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONS | OKLAHOMA STATE – One year after losing on a tiebreaker on their home course, Oklahoma State left nothing to doubt and downed the defending champion Northern Arizona 49–71. – The Cowboys put five runners in the top 15. – Freshman Denis Kipngetich was the top OSU runner in fourth place overall in 28:59.7 for the 10K course. Fellow freshman Brian Musau was not far behind with an eighth place finish in 29:11.0. Fouad Messaoudi was 10th in 29:13.3. Victor Shitsama took 12th at 29:16.1. Alex Maier was 15th in 29:20.2. – This is Oklahoma State’s first men’s team title since 201 ..read more

WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION | PARKER VALBY – After finishing second at the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Parker Valby dominated this year’s race to win in 18:55.2 for the 6K course. She won by 10.6 seconds. – Valby completed an undefeated season that included four victories at the Nuttycombe Invitational, SEC Cross Country Championships and the NCAA South Regional before Saturday’s victory. – She is the first runner from the Florida Gators to win an NCAA Cross Country title. SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS ? OLIPOP is a prebiotic soda with only 2-5g of sugar that is actually good for your ..read more

Can NAU Keep The Dynasty Going? Can Oklahoma State Get Redemption? "Flashback to 2022: there was chaos at the finish line of the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma, as officials tried to sort out the final score of the meet. The frequently-changing unofficial results made their way to the runners, and for just a moment, Oklahoma State thought they had won. It seemed that they used their home course advantage to upset the Northern Arizona dynasty, it was a storybook ending. But joy quickly turned to heartbreak as both teams ended up with a final score of 83 points – the first tie ..read more