Although the women’s indoor track and field team missed the podium for the first time in four years, the Gustavus coaching staff couldn’t have been more proud with the way the team performed throughout the 2012 MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships held March 1-3, at the Leonard Center on the campus of Macalester College. The Gusties earned 17 points on day two finish in seventh place with a three-day total of 29 points.
St. Thomas ran away with the 2012 title after compiling 164 points, while Carleton placed second with 114 points, and St. Olaf rounded out the top three in third with 97 points.
“We were slated to be down quite a bit this year from past years, but our women did exactly what they needed to do and more, and we’re proud of the way to went out and competed over the weekend,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “Unfortunately our score doesn’t show how much we are improving, but we had some PR’s and that is good to see for this team right now.”
The final day of competition was headlined by the breakout performance of senior Emily Klatt (Woodbury, Minn.) who leaped her way to a second place finish in the long jump after recording a mark of 17’ 9”. Gustavus has now placed an athlete on the podium in the long jump five consecutive seasons. Her long jump on Saturday bested her previous season-high by more than five inches.
“If you look at a performance like Emily Klatt’s, she wasn’t even close to that coming in to the meet and she found a way to step up. She was an individual who stepped up and got us some points we weren’t expected to get,” said Bahr.
The 4×200 relay team of first-year Hana Fischer (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Emily Klatt, first-year Sara Lundgren (Mankato, Minn.), and first-year Haley Kemper (Prior Lake, Minn.) also broke out with a third place finish after crossing the finish line in 1:45.82.
Rounding out the third day’s top performers was first-year Rebecca Hare (Albany, Minn.) taking eighth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:41.35.
“To go back to the first day and Megan Endresen taking third place in the weight throw after not being ranked that high going in was also huge,” said Bahr. “It was exciting to see those couple of individuals step up and earn the team some big points.”
Throughout the entire championship meet, the top three finishers in each individual event and each winning relay team earn automatic MIAC All-Conference honors. All-Conference Honorable Mention is awarded to places 4-6 in each individual event, and 2-6 in the relays.
The conference has a home page for the 2012 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships with complete information and links about the event, including results, recaps and more. Webcast America is also filming the event for the MIAC, and on-demand video will be available shortly following the meet on Webcast’s America’s site.
| 2012 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships – Women’s Results | ||
| Rank | Institution | Total |
| 1 | St. Thomas | 164.0 |
| 2 | Carleton | 114.0 |
| 3 | St. Olaf | 97.0 |
| 4 | Bethel | 85.0 |
| 5 | Saint Benedict | 74.0 |
| 6 | Hamline | 70.0 |
| 7 | Gustavus | 46.0 |
| 8 | Macalester | 43.5 |
| 9 | Concordia | 43.0 |
| 10 | St. Catherine | 21.0 |
| 11 | Augsburg | 13.5 |
| 12 | Saint Mary’s | 9.0 |