Senior Josh Owens took home the gold medal in the pole on day one of the 2013 MIAC Championships.
St. Paul – Following a bright and sunny opening day of the 2013 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Gustavus men’s track and field team finds itself in second place after scoring 46.5 points. The University of St. Thomas jumped out to an early lead on day one after recording 81 points, while Saint John’s rounds out the top three in third with 25 points.
Highlighting the day’s events for Gustavus was senior Josh Owens (Brooklyn Park, Minn.). After finishing runner-up in the pole vault the past two seasons, Owens claimed the gold medal in the event at his final outdoor conference meet by going over the bar at 15-feet 5.5-inches. Owens becomes Gustavus’s first MIAC Champion in the pole vault since Drew Hood placed first two years in a row in 2007 and 2008. With his performance this season, Owens finishes his Gustavus career a three-time All-Conference performer in the pole vault.
Behind Owens, Jeffrey Dubose (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) scored Gustavus five points in the pole vault after finishing fourth with a height of 14-feet 9.5-inches.
Brody Zeigler finished third in the high jump, earning All-MIAC honors.
Also bringing home All-Conference honors was Brody Ziegler (Fr., Mankato, Minn.) in the high jump. Ziegler went over the bar at 6-feet eight-inches to finish third. In the high jump as well, Isaac Tapp (So., Stewartville, Minn.) cleared 6-feet 6.75-inches to finish fifth, and Naga Rumicho (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.) cleared 6-feet 4.25-inches to take eighth.
Also providing the Gusties with key points in the field events was Ryan Obele (Jr., Le Sueur, Minn.), Jesse Scheiterlein (So., Sartell, Minn.), and Blair Riegel (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.). Obele led the group by taking home All-MIAC honors with a third place performance in the hammer throw with a toss of 160-feet 11-inches. He also added a fourth place finish in the discus with a throw of 144-feet one-inch. Scheiterlein turned in two top eight marks with a sixth place finish in the hammer (147’ 11”) and a seventh place finish in the discus (133’ 2”). Riegel rounded out the day’s top field event performers with a fifth place showing in the long jump after recording a leap of 21-feet 6.25-inches.
On the track, Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) ran the 10,000-meter run in 32:29.69 to finish eighth and earn Gustavus one point.
Other Gustie track competitors earning the right to race in the finals on Saturday by way of their finish in Friday’s preliminary heats include Matt Flotterud (Jr., Cannon Falls, Minn.), Phillip Butler (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.), and Scott Williams (So., Maple Grove, Minn.). Flotterud will run in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles after crossing the finish line in 15:48, Butler will run in the 100-meter dash after going 11.14, and Williams will run in the 400-meter hurdles after a prelim time of 56.59.
Phillip Butler (left) and Jeffrey Dubose (right) run side-by-side in the 100m dash prelims.
Gustavus’s 4×100-meter relay will also compete on Saturday after Butler, Nick Carlson (So., Fridley, Minn.), Dubose, and Riegel recorded a qualifying time of 42.53.
The 2013 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will conclude Saturday, May 11. Saturday’s action will start with the National Anthem at 11:50 a.m. The day two field events start at 12:00 p.m. and the track events will begin at 1:00 p.m. The full schedule of events is available online.
Saturday’s final event begins at 4:35 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.