THE TRACKSMITH VARSITY CLUB
The Trip of a Lifetime
WORDS BY NICK WILLIS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLIAM TEETS AND JACK BALICK
At Tracksmith, we pride ourselves on how we’re woven into the sport of running. From hosting shakeout runs to celebrating marathon weekends, in everything we do, we aim to champion the running class. So when the US Supreme Court made a unanimous ruling which allowed NCAA athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness in 2021, we jumped at the new opportunity to support the community that we love so fondly.
Three years later, and we carved out Tracksmith’s Varsity Club, an NIL program. One that doesn’t just sign a handful of athletes as ambassadors and send them a check for their services, but instead, provides them with inspiration and valuable experience so that they can grasp how to navigate the wild west of professional racing in the future.
Over 300 NCAA Track athletes applied for the Varsity Club, and we selected the team based on who showed the most passion and potential for a professional career after completing their collegiate eligibility.
THE TEAM:
Nya Bussey - 100m (Ohio State University)
Bella Whitaker - 400m (University of Pennsylvania)
Alex Carlson - 1500m (Rutgers University)
Megan Marvin - 800m (Furman University)
Kayla Windemuller - 3000m Steeple (University of Michigan)
Alex Korczynski - 3000m Steeple (Northeastern University)
Nick Foster - 1500m (University of Michigan)
Carter Solomon - 5000m (University of Notre Dame)
Luke Tewalt - 1500m (Wake Forest University)
Jaheem Hayles - 110m Hurdles (Syracuse University)
Find out how these members of our Varsity Club made some medal-worthy memories.
Unlike a college track team that’s organized down to every detail, from practice facilities to medical support to travel and lodging logistics, the professional track circuit leaves the majority of runners fending for themselves. Most athletes have to take ownership of every element that’s involved in racing, and when this involves international competitions, the task is daunting.
For the Varsity Club, we wanted to bring our ten athletes to Europe so that they could experience the pinnacle of the sport for themselves—the global Diamond League circuit. The Paris and Monaco Diamond League meetings are consistently the best one-day track meets in the world each year, and with these events taking place right before the Games, the biggest track stars really showed out.
In the days prior to those unforgettable, elite events, we had some pit stops. Because I’ve been fortunate to have raced in Europe for 20 track seasons, I was excited to bring the group to some of my favorite spots and vicariously experience that first-time eagerness and joy through our aspiring athletes.
Our first stop on the 10-day trip was Paris. With each runner flying in from different parts of the US, the first obstacle for the group (and for me), was making sure everyone got to their apartments in the 11th Arrondissement safely. I met them as they arrived, already battling jet lag as we navigated the Charles De Gaulle Airport arrivals hall and swiftly headed off into Paris. Exhaustion aside, they settled in and hit the city for some groggy sightseeing around the Notre Dame Cathedral before meeting up for a team dinner.
"I was shocked by how much more pumped up this packed stadium was. We cheered as the home country favorite, Gabriel Tual, stormed down the home straight for a national record of 1:41. The place was rocking."
Day two was a free day for the athletes to get some training in and explore the city more as a group. Because track and field is a really diverse sport with a broad range of disciplines that don’t often overlap, one area of the professional sport is truly lacking – the team environment. Whereas in college, runners have an amazing opportunity to bond and learn from each other, at the career-level, there’s very little socializing or bonding outside of your event group. In addition to that, a lot of elite athletes have a hard time learning how to balance their focus on competition with the fun of exploration. Even when racing in amazing cities, often they’ll never leave the hotel. Instead, we leaned in. Our Varsity Club learned together how to navigate the Metro, find trails and tracks to run on, and gyms to lift in.
On day three, the Paris Diamond League had finally rolled around. We rendezvoused at Stade Charléty, and we made it to our seats by the time the Men’s 800m had reached full throttle. I realized that I’d forgotten how much energy a European crowd brought to a track meet. After attending the US Trials only a week before, an amazing atmosphere in its own right, I was shocked by how much more pumped up this packed stadium was. We cheered as the home country favorite, Gabriel Tual, stormed down the home straight for a national record of 1:41. The place was rocking.
Race after race and in every single field event, our Varsity Club athletes, and the rest of the stadium, were brought to their feet. The event production was that of an NBA game with a perfect balance of pump-up music and announcements. To cap it all off, we got to see world records in the Women’s High Jump and 1500m— truly a once in a lifetime track and field experience. I sat back and watched our athletes soak it all in, imagining themselves being down on the track in the coming years.
After Paris, we headed off to Italy. Some members of the Varsity Club had the opportunity to compete in a low pressure event in Foligno, Umbria, but first we flew to Rome for one night of sightseeing and a quick stop in Spoleto, a town that my wife and I had once become integrated into, all the way down to the small running community. Sharing this picturesque town and my Spoleto friends with our athletes was a very special experience. We were able to give them a glimpse of what life as an athlete in Europe can look like when you immerse yourself in a culture and make a home away from home during your international racing season.
The following day, as we prepared for the meet in Foligno, we got a taste of a true Italian summer. It was 100°F. Finding shade, water, and the best place to get ready for the race was another wrinkle that the athletes would have to face in their journey to professional running. We went through the necessities together, but even checking in to get their race bibs and heat information was a challenge with the language barrier. It was all a part of the learning curve.
Probably the biggest “learning” moment was when Nya missed the gun in the 100m, as she didn’t know they had already called “set”. Nonetheless, she worked her way up to second place. The Varsity Club also saw first and third place finishes in the 1500m for Nick Foster and Alex Korczinski, respectively. It was a great evening for the squad, and gave them ample learning opportunities to be more prepared for the future.
"It felt like we were all lined up, ready to accelerate as the gun blasted right alongside the elites. We witnessed an incredible race, with Jakob just missing out on the record by fractions of a second."
The final stop on the trip was the crown jewel – well at least in my mind – Monaco. My four fastest times have all come from the Monaco Diamond League, and it’s always been the feature meeting on the calendar that every pro athlete tries to get into. Returning to the race as a spectator, alongside the Varsity Club athletes, was a treat. We headed into Stade Louis II to cheer on the world's fastest runners.
The 1500m, my old event, was the feature race of the night. Jakob Ingesbrigsten was back on this track, the fastest track in the world, for the first time in two years and ready to have a crack at Hichem El Guerrouj’s 27 year old world record. The tension in the stadium, and amongst ourselves, as the men walked out of the tunnel, down the back straight, and to the startline was immense. The adrenaline-filled entry happened directly beneath our seats – I had intentionally chosen the section so that our athletes could experience this specific moment.
It felt like we were all lined up, ready to accelerate as the gun blasted right alongside the elites. We witnessed an incredible race, with Jakob just missing out on the record by fractions of a second. Even so, this race, along with all the other races we caught that night, was an experience we would hold onto forever. Sadly, it also signaled the end of our time together as a group.
The next morning, we all headed off to different parts of the world, going our separate ways but carrying a bond of shared experiences that will inspire these future pros to embrace the challenges, whatever they may be, so that they make it back to Paris and Monaco – this time as competitors.
