Northfield, Minn. – The 2013 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships began on Thursday with the women’s pentathlon and the beginning of the men’s heptathlon. Representing Gustavus on the men’s side was junior Cameron Clause (Mankato, Minn.). First-year Sarah Swanson (Fairbanks, Alaska), sophomore Kelly O’Niell (Lake Elmo, Minn.), and junior Anna McDevitt (Lakeville, Minn.) all made appearances for the women’s team.
After the opening four events, Cameron Clause is poised to make a run at the heptathlon title after finishing day one in second with 2,554 points. Clause – who finished third in the heptathlon last season – got off to a great start with wins in the opening two events of the day. He crossed the finish line in 7.37 to take the 60-meter dash, and then recorded a leap of 21-feet 6.25-inches to win the long jump. Clause’s day was rounded out by an 11th place finish in the shot put after a throw of 31-feet 11.25-inches, and a fifth place performance in the high jump with a height of 5-feet 10.5-inches.
Clause will be gunning for Gavin Yseth of St. Thomas who leads the way with 2,631 points following day one’s events. Yseth’s teammate Patrick Ecklund rounds out the top three competitors in third with 2,531 points.
Anna McDevitt was the top Gustie finisher in the pentathlon, taking 16th with a final point total of 2,259. McDevvitt’s top event was the shot put where she placed ninth with a toss of 28-feet. Kelly O’Neill placed 17th with 2,025 points, and Sarah Swanson finished 18th with 2,002 points. Kelly O’Niell placed seventh in the high jump (4-9), while Swanson won the shot put with a throw of 38-feet 11.5-inches.
Friday will be the first full day of MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championship action, starting with field events at 2:30 p.m. The women’s field events Friday will be the weight throw, triple jump and pole vault, while the men will compete in the long jump, high jump and shot put. There will be seven track events Friday, including the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, 400-meter dash, 800-meter run, mile, 5,000-meter run and the distance medley relay. The full schedule of events is online here.
The three-day meet concludes Saturday, starting with field events at 11 a.m. and track at 1 p.m. Saturday’s final event begins at 4:15 p.m., and there will be a short awards ceremony following the conclusion of the meet to honor both team champions. The top three individuals in each event and the first-place relay team will automatically earn All-Conference honors, and the fourth- through sixth-place finishers in each open event and second- through sixth-place relay teams will all be named All-Conference Honorable Mention.
The MIAC has a Web page dedicated to the event, and complete results, recaps, and multimedia coverage of the championships will be available on that site throughout the event. There will be live results available for all events courtesy of Apple Raceberry Jam and fans can also find entries and heat sheets on the MIAC’s event page as they become available.
Admission for the event is $7 for adults and $3 for students per day, with children ages 5 and under admitted free. MIAC passes will be honored. St. Olaf is offering parking for spectators in several campus lots, including H Lot, Rand Lot and Buntrock Commons. Visit St. Olaf’s event page for complete information, including parking and directions. The MIAC would like to thank St. Olaf College, its coaches, and its staff, for its efforts as the host school.