St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams will travel to Collegeville, Minn. this weekend for the 2014 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The conference meet will be held Thursday, March 6th through Saturday, March 8th, at Saint John’s University.
At last year’s MIAC Championships, the men earned 57.5 points to finish seventh, while the women earned 75 points for a fourth place finish.
In the sprints, the Gusties will look for strong performances from their top sprinter, Phillip Butler (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.), whose time of 7.14 seconds in the 60-meter dash ranks 11th in the MIAC. Butler placed third in the 60-meter dash at last year’s Conference meet, earning him All-Conference honors. Thomas Knobbe (Fr., Decorah, Iowa) is another runner to watch this weekend, as his time of 15:58.50 in the 5000-meter ranks tenth in the conference.
Jordan Lovestrand (Fr., Bloomington, Minn.) and Scott Williams (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) are the Gusties’ top hurdlers. In the 60 meter-hurdles, Lovestrand’s time of 8.76 seconds puts him in sixth in the MIAC and Scott Williams’ season-best time of 8.84 seconds puts him in eighth.
On the field, the men’s team will be led by Blair Riegel (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) who is currently ranked third in in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump. Riegel earned All-Conference honors at last year with a second place finish in the long jump. Cameron Clause (Sr., Mankato, Minn.) is another top jumper for Gustavus and currently ranks seventh in the MIAC in the long jump.
Clause will also be competing in the pole vault, where he is ranked second. Jeffrey Dubose (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) adds depth in the pole vault where he is ranked fifth.
In the throwing portion of this weekend’s competition, the Gusties will look to Jesse Scheiterlein (Jr., Sartell, Minn.) and Ryan Obele (Sr., Le Sueur, Minn.) to lead the way. Obele is ranked third in the league in the weight throw, while Scheiterlein is currently ranked 11th in the shot put and seventh in the weight Throw.
On the track, the women’s team will be paced by Caitlin Fermoyle (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) whose 18:43.71 in the 5000-meter places her sixth in the MIAC rankings. Her time of 10:37.10 in the 3000-meter ranks ninth. Haley Kemper (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) is ranked ninth in the conference in the 400-meter with a time of 61.08 seconds.
Anna McDevitt (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) leads the women’s team in the triple jump, where she ranks eighth. Nevada Wendlandt (Sr., Maplewood, Minn.) is the team’s leading high jumper, ranking fifth heading into the weekend.
The women’s team excels in the shot put, with three Gusties ranked in the top ten in the MIAC. Sarah Swanson (So., Fairbanks, Alaska) is ranked second in the conference, Hayley Solheim (So., Crookston, Minn.) is ranked eighth, and Rachel Colter (Jr., North St. Paul, Minn.) is ranked tenth.
Another strong event for the women will likely be the pole vault where Wendlandt is ranked first in the MIAC with a season-best vault of 3.50 meters. Last year Wendlandt earned All-Conference honors after she placed second in the pole vault competition. Kelsey Harms (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) is another vaulter to watch this weekend, as she is ranked fifth.
This weekend’s championships conclude the indoor portion of the track and field season. After this meet the men and women will turn their attention towards the outdoor season.
The 2014 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships begin Thursday with the multi-event competitions. The women’s pentathlon starts at 2 p.m. with the men’s heptathlon beginning 15 minutes later. The heptathlon finishes up Friday morning at 10:30 a.m., with Friday’s field events set to start at 4 p.m. and track to follow at 4:30 p.m. Saturday’s final starts with 12 p.m. field events and 1 p.m. track events.
Saturday’s final event begins at 4:10 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 4th-through-6th place finishers in each open event and 2nd-through-6th place relay teams will all be named All-Conference Honorable Mention.
The MIAC has a home page dedicated to the 2014 Indoor Championships, complete with venue and admission information, the event schedule, entries, heat sheets and links to follow the results live. Results, recaps, and multimedia coverage of the championships will be available throughout the event. There will be live results available for all events courtesy of Apple Raceberry Jam and Wayzata Timing 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. The MIAC would like to thank Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict and their coaches and staff for their efforts to host the event.