The Gustavus Adolphus men’s track and field team finished sixth at the 2007 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at St. Olaf’s Tostrud Center in Northfield. Gustavus finished with 58 points and crowned champions in the weight throw (Andy Klaers) and 55-meter hurdles (Tyler Geyen), while St. Thomas claimed its 23rd MIAC Indoor title with 205 points.
Alex Zupan (Sr., Monona, Wis./Monona Grove) posted the best Gustavus finish on the track Saturday placing fourth in the 1000 in 2:35.44.
After a runner-up finish in Friday’s 400, Ben Treichel (Jr., Webster, Wis.) took ninth in the 200 in 23.36, missing out on scoring by 0.01 seconds. Jake Fourre (Fr., Corcoran, Minn./Buffalo) added a 12th-place finish in the 600 (1:15.31).
The Gusties picked up points in the 4×200 as Dan Marti (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.), Cole Carlson (Fr., Mora, Minn.), Adam Caulfield (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.), and Tyler Geyen (So., Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) raced to a fifth-place time of 1:32.57. The 4×400 relay team of Treichel, Carlson, Geyen, and Caulfield narrowly missed placing a mark in the scoring column, placing ninth (3:29.64).
On Saturday, Andy Klaers (Jr., Loretto, Minn./Delano) added a sixth-place finish in the shot put to the conference title he won in the weight throw Friday night. Klaers used a throw of 45-9 3/4 to get into the finals, then increased his mark to 46-1 1/4 with his final valid throw. Luke Weyandt (Sr., Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) placed ninth (43-8 1/2), missing the finals by 2 1/2 inches.
Josh Sorenson (Sr., Hanska, Minn./Medalia) and Drew Hood (Jr., Mankato, Minn./West) each cleared 15-2 1/4 in the pole vault, but Sorenson was awarded fifth and Hood sixth based on misses.
The Gusties must now await the official selections of the NCAA Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Committee to see if anyone advances to the NCAA Championships next weekend (March 9-10) at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. Those selections will be released by the NCAA at approximately noon Central Time on Monday, March 5.
Andy Klaers and Josh Sorenson were the only Gustavus men to record NCAA provisional marks during the indoor season. Through Friday, March 3, Klaers had the 10th best toss in the weight throw (57-7 3/4) and Sorenson had the 15th best vault (15-9 3/4) in Division III.