The Gustavus men’s indoor track and field team will arrive at 2009 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships with a veteran group that will be looking to improve on their seventh place finish a year ago. The meet begins with the heptathlon competition on Thursday and runs through Saturday afternoon. Concordia will serve as the hosts with the event taking place at the Olson Forum on the Concordia campus.
Gustavus has six different athletes ranked among the top eight of the MIAC Performance lists. Leading the way for the Gusties is two-time all-conference performer senior Tyler Geyen (Watertown, Minn.). Geyen has emerged as one of the top hurdlers in Division III this season as he holds the ninth fastest time in the country in the 55-meter hurdles at 7.63 seconds, and has yet to lose the race in 2009.
Senior Dan Foley (Minneapolis, Minn.) has carried over a successful cross-country season into a successful indoor track season as he is seeded fourth in the 5,000 meters (15:24.92). Returning all-conference performer junior Brian Anderson (Bloomington, Minn.) is currently ranked third in the shot put at 48-11. Others entering the meet ranked in the top eight include first-year Matt Dvorak (Burnsville, Minn.), who currently holds the seventh spot in the 55-meter dash (6.64), sophomore Max Hanson (Montrose, Minn.), who is sixth in the 600 meters (1:15.18), and junior Jordan Van Dorp (Buffalo, Minn.), who is eighth in the pole vault at a height of 13-7 3/4.
Gustavus also returns an all-conference relay team in the 4×200. Members of the team include Matt Dvorak, Tyler Geyen, Colby Citrowske (So., Canby, Minn.), and Cole Carlson (Jr., Mora, Minn.). They enter the meet with the conference’s top time at 1:31.70. The 4×400 relay team of Matt Leeb (So., Kasota, Minn.), Tyler Geyen, Colby Citrowske, and Cole Carlson ranks fifth in the event with a time of 3:25.29.