Release Courtesy of Matt Higgins – MIAC Assistant Executive
St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus standout track and field athlete Cameron Clause (Sr., Mankato, Minn.) has been honored in the 2014 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Track and Field Postseason Awards following his performances at the MIAC Championships held last weekend in Collegeville, Minn. Clause received a pair of awards by claiming Indoor Outstanding Field Athlete and Performance-of-the-Meet honors.
Outstanding Men’s Field Athlete – Cameron Clause
Gustavus junior Cameron Clause was named the MIAC’s Outstanding Indoor Field Athlete for his versatile and tremendous performance in Collegeville. Clause won the heptathlon in thrilling fashion, with a new MIAC-record score of 5,088, which was also voted the Performance-of-the-Meet (more below). Clause added another All-Conference honor in the pole vault, as he tied Hamline’s Mark Volker for the top-recorded height of 15-1.5. However, Clause took more attempts throughout the competition, so he finished in second place.
Men’s Outstanding Performance-of-the-Meet – Cameron Clause, Heptathlon
Clause was further honored for his heptathlon heroics with the MIAC’s Performance-of-the-Meet award. Clause’s score of 5,088 is the MIAC’s new all-time standard, eclipsing the old record of 4,881, which was set by Saint Mary’s Rob Friendt in 2005. Clause came from behind to win thanks to his first-place finish in the final event – the men’s 1,000-meter run – with a time of 2:41.20. He also finished first in the 60-meter hurdles (8.79 seconds), second in the pole vault (14-11), high jump (6-0.75) and long jump (21-5.5), third in the 60-meter dash (7.28 seconds) and fifth in the shot put (33-5.75) en route to his record-setting performance and first-place finish. Clause’s score has qualified him for nationals, where he is seeded sixth.
As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC selected the eighth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for Men’s Indoor Track & Field. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. Rod Strozier (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) was selected as Gustavus’s representative on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.
Clause will compete in the heptathlon at the Division III Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships being held this weekend at the University of Nebraska’s (Lincoln) Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. Clause ranks sixth in the event entering the weekend.