Matthew Marcum, Loras teammates break 23-year-old NCAA Division III track & field record in distance medley relay

Rock Falls High School graduate and reigning Class 2A 300-meter hurdles state champion Matthew Marcum is already making NCAA track & field history in his first year at Loras College.

On the final day of the Drake University Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 29, Marcum and Loras teammates Wyatt Kelly (senior), Carter Oberfoell (senior) and Ryan Harvey (junior) set a new national record in the distance medley relay for NCAA Division III track & field.

The previous record of 9:53.78 was set by North Central College in 2000. Marcum’s relay team shattered that mark by more than eight seconds, clocking a 9:45.73 to set the new standard.

Going into the race, Marcum was unaware of the record time.

“I had no idea [what the record was]. They might’ve known – the other people in the group – but I was just told by my coach to run the race,” Marcum said. “I went in there to try to keep the position where we were, everything went according to plan, and I was super excited when I found out we broke the record.”

In his 400-meter leg of the DMR, Marcum blazed a college personal-record time, lending a big hand to the record-setting performance.

“In high school, we never really did splits in the 4x400. In college, that was definitely my record split; it was a 49.1 [seconds]. I was excited to run that,” Marcum said. “I was a little disappointed that I was so close to 48, but I can’t complain about that.”

On May 2, the record-setting relay runners were recognized as the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III National Athletes of the Week – a first for a D-III relay team.

Two days earlier, Kelly, Oberfoell and Harvey set another D-III relay record at the Drake Relays – with senior Mike Jasa as the fourth team member. With a time of 7:22.17 in the 4x800 relay, they beat the previous national record set by Loras by six seconds, and broke a 49-year-old Drake Relays college division record. Their relay team was also honored as national athletes of the week by the USTFCCCA.

So far, in his first year of college track & field, Marcum has competed in the open 400, 400 hurdles, 110 hurdles, 60 hurdles, open 100, open 800, 400 in the distance medley relay, 4x400, and open 600.

The transition from high school to college track & field hasn’t always been easy for the reigning SVM Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year, but if the record-setting relay time is any indication, he’s getting his legs under him – and, as a freshman, there’s still a lot more he can accomplish over the next three years.

“It’s been a mixed experience. It was humbling going from high school being the best of the best in the area to being in college where everyone’s the best of the best,” Marcum said. “It’s definitely been a readjustment, but it’s also been a really cool experience to grow and become a better runner with all these other great runners.”