The Gustavus men’s indoor track and field team claimed no titles at Saturday’s Ted Nelson Classic hosted by Minnesota State Mankato, but a number of top-four finishes allowed the Gusties to place third in the four team field with 78.50 points. MSU easily outdistance the field, compiling 221 points. University of North Dakota finished second with 134.50 points. Augustana (S.D.) scored 52 points, finishing fourth.
John Retka (Fr., Shoreview, Minn.) was the only Gustie with multiple individual top-four finishes, placing third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump.
Among the field events, Andy Klaers (Jr., Delano, Minn.) added a third-place finish in the weight throw with a heave of 47-11.25. Darin Mays (Sr., Minnesota Lake, Minn.) took fourth in the shot put with a throw of 40-11, while Drew Hood (So., Mankato, Minn.) and Matt Fordyce (Sr., Atwater, Minn.) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault. Hood cleared 13-1 3/4, while Fordyce was limited to a height of 12-2.
Jack Henkemeyer (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) qualified for the final in the 60 meter dash with a 7.16 clocking, but opted out of the final. The move made room in the final for Chad Arlt (Fr., St. Michael, Minn.), who qualified sixth. Arlt finished fourth in the final with a time of 7.36 seconds.
The Gusties also picked up a third and a fifth in the 60 meter hurdles with Tanner Miest (Jr., New London, Minn.) clocking a 8.53 time in the final, while Tyler Geyen (Fr., Watertown, Minn.) finished fifth with a time of 8.90 seconds. Geyen qualified for the final with a 8.78 clocking.
The Gusties also fared well in both the distance medley and 4×400 meter relays, finishing second in both. The distance medley relay finished second to MSU with a time of 11:02.90, while the 4×400 meter relay finished with a time of 3:27.51, less than three seconds off the pace set by race-winner University of North Dakota.
The Gusties will return to the track next Friday when they travel to Minneapolis to participate in the Snoeshoe Open.