St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s and women’s track and field teams took part in their final warm-up meet before the MIAC Championships by competing in the Meet of the UnSaintly hosted on the campus of Hamline University on Friday and Saturday. No team scores were kept at the meet.
On the men’s side, Gustavus excelled in the field events with a total of six top five performances. Naga Rumicho (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) and Jeffrey Dubose (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) led the way with runner-up efforts in the high jump and pole vault, respectively. Rumicho cleared 6-feet 6-inches in the high jump, and Dubose went over the bar at 14-feet 11.5-inches in the pole vault.
Nick Carlson (Jr., Fridley, Minn.) also made the podium with a third place showing in the javelin with a toss of 159-feet 5-inches.
Rounding out the top field performances was Ryan Obele (Sr., Le Sueur, Minn.) with fourth place throws in the discus (147’ 10”) and hammer (164’ 9”), and Matt Flotterud (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) with a fourth place leap in the high jump (6’).
The Gusties recorded four top five marks on the track. The squad’s top finishers included Sam Fransen (Sr., Jackson, Minn.), who finished third in the 800-meter run in 1:58.35, and Scott Williams (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.), who placed third in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.78.
Phillip Butler (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) and Tanner Davenport (Sr., Ham Lake, Minn.) rounded out Gustavus’s top performers on the track. Butler came in fourth in the 100-meter dash (10.97), while Davenport took fourth in the 800-meter run (1:59.93).
On the women’s side, Gustavus’s top performance came from Elizabeth Weiers (Jr., Le Center, Minn.) who finished fourth in the hammer throw with a toss of 159-feet 8-inches.
Rachel Colter (Jr., North St. Paul, Minn.) had a good weekend in the throws with a ninth place effort in the javelin (105’ 4”) and a 10th place showing in the shot put (39’ 5.75”).
Also in the shot put, Sarah Swanson (So., Fairbanks, Alaska) took sixth (41’ 3.75”), and Hayley Solheim (So., Crookston, Minn.) finished ninth (40’ 0.5”).
Nevada Wendlandt (Sr., Maplewood, Minn.) led the way in the jumps by placing seventh in both the high jump (5’ 1.25”) and pole vault (10’ 6”). Kelsey Harms (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) added a sixth place performance in the pole vault after going over the bar at 10-feet 6-inches.
Leading the women on the track was Marit Sonnesyn (So., Plymouth, Minn.) who registered a fifth place run in the 5,000-meter (18:19.87). Lauren Shurson (So., Chanhassen, Minn.) also finished inside the top ten in the 5,000 in 10th (18:55.63). Gustavus’s final top 10 mark on the track came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase where Mata Agre (So., Corcoran, Minn) came in seventh (12:20.73).
The 2014 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held on Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.