The Gustavus men’s and women’s track and field teams battled through windy conditions throughout the afternoon at the 11th Annual Drake Alternative held in St. Peter, Minn. on Saturday. The men’s (2) and women’s (6) squads combined for eight individual event wins at the meet, as no team scores were kept.
Registering wins on the track for the women was Amanda Iverson, Abby Karl, and Laura Secor. Iverson won the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.02, Karl took the 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.41, and Secor won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:02.33.
Second place finishers in the running events included Danielle Burgmeier in the 400-meter dash (1:01.50), Beth Hauer in the 1,500-meter run (5:06.67), Lyndsi Schwichtenberg in the steeplechase (13:21.64), and Erica Roelofs in the 400-meter hurdles (1:10.28). Other top performers on the track included Janie Briant (3rd 200MD), Megan Lundgren (3rd, 400MD), Jenny Hendricks (3rd 800MR), and Laura Sjoberg (3rd, 100MH).
Janey Helland, fresh off her fifth place performance in the heptathlon at Drake Relays, won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:05.64, and placed third in the javelin with a toss of 103’ 5”.
Sarah Baker and Sam Broderius both tallied a win and a runner-up finish on the day. Baker cleared 5’ 1” to win the high jump and recorded a second place leap of 16’ 1.75” in the long jump. Broderius won the discus with a throw of 154’ 3”, automatically qualifying her for the NCAA Championships. Her second place finish came in the shot put (41’ 10.75”).
Matt Dvorak and Blair Riegel led the men’s squad with a pair wins. Dvorak ran a 10.95 to win the 100-meter dash, and Riegel won the long jump with a leap of 22’ 3”. Riegel also finished runner-up in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.02.
Matt Leeb, Anders Bowman, and Steve Groskreutz all came in second in their respective races. Leeb went 51.71 in the 400-meter dash, Bowman ran a 4:09.20 in the 1,500-meter run, and Groskreutz went 54.86 in the 400-meter hurdles.
Other top performers on the men’s side included Erick Jorgenson (3rd, 400MD), David Young (4th, Javelin), and Carson Smith (5th 800MR).
The Gustavus men’s and women’s track and field teams will be back on the track May 6-7 when they take part in the Meet of the Unsaintly hosted by Hamline in St. Paul. The Meet of the Saintly is the final regular season meet before the Gusties host the 2011 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in St. Peter on May 13-14.