Olympic Trials
On November 6, 2022, Atlanta Track Club Elite Maegan Krifchin competed in The New York City Marathon. On the 26.2-mile course, more than 50,000 runners covered all five boroughs of New York. For the first time since 2019, the marathon was at full capacity. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was canceled in 2020 and scaled back in 2021. Krifchin managed to average 6:09 per mile in NYC; she finished 24th out of 21,160 women in a time of 2:40.52. Krifchin described the race as a difficult day, stating, “it’s tough watching your goals and dreams slip away. It is way off my personal best, and what I thought I was capable of, but I ran with so much heart today to make it to that finish line, and I am most proud of that.”
Two weeks later, on November 22, 2022, Maegan Krifchin decided to take a chance b on herself by running the Philadelphia Marathon off a two-week turnaround. The 26.2-mile journey across Philadelphia began early on Sunday morning as athletes took their places just before 7 a.m. at the Ben Franklin Parkway. In a race with 5,120 people, Krifchin placed second with a time of 2:31:41. Averaging just over 5:47 per mile, she finished 34th over all genders. Krifchin’s finish earned her a spot in the 2024 U.S. Olympic MarathonTrials. Following her race Krifchin stated being thankful for the positive outcome of betting on herself and l for the opportunity to race again.
New Elites at The Club
Atlanta Track Club announced over the weekend the addition of two middle distance athletes to the women's elite team. Presley Weems, the 800m school record holder at Auburn University, and British half-miler Hannah Segrave have both moved to Atlanta and will make their debuts this indoor track season.
Segrave, a 2017 graduate of Milligan University, comes to Atlanta with personal bests of 2:00.18 and 4:12.24 in the 800m and 1500m respectively. At Milligan, she won four NAIA National Championship titles and was an eight-time All-American. Segrave, who graduated with a degree in computer information systems, will work on Information Technology for The Club.
Weems comes to Atlanta after graduating from Auburn in May of this year. Her personal best and school record 800m time of 2:03.50 came during a sixth place finish at the 2022 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Weems also holds Auburn's outdoor 1500m record of 4:12.52 set in May of 2021.
Both athletes have big goals when it comes to their performances on the Elite team. Segrave intends on breaking 2:00 in the 800m, while Weems plans on making her first season on the professional level one about growth and development. "Hannah and Presley bring fresh perspectives and new talents to our team," said Amy Begley, Atlanta Track Club Elite's coach. "Hannah is an accomplished veteran who has a lot of experience competing on the global stage while Presley has incredible potential to be in the mix for national teams."
