NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s and women’s track and field teams both took second place at the St. Olaf Invite on Friday. The men scored 161 points, while the women tallied 122 points. St. Thomas took first among the women’s teams with a score of 195, while Bethel took first on the men’s side with 186 points.
The Gustie men took first place in six events. Sean O’Connell (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) won the 60-meter dash, crossing the line in 7.30; the 4×200-meter relay of Sam ReMine (Jr., Mantorville, Minn.), Jack Blaney (Fy., Lake Elmo, Minn.), Ed ReMine (Jr., Mantorville, Minn.) and O’Connell took first in 1:34.29; Thomas Knobbe (Jr., Decorah, Iowa) won the one-mile run in 4:23.3; Knobbe also took first in the 3000-meter run at 9:04.74; Bennet Woltjer (Sr., Kandiohi, Minn.) won the high jump with a height of 1.78 meters; and David Hoien (Jr., Annandale, Minn.) posted the top pole vault mark, clearing 4.47 meters.
On the women’s side, five events claimed first place, including the 4×200-meter relay team of Jalia Anderson (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.), Tess Olinger (Fy., Decorah, Iowa), Maddison Ackiss (Jr., Fairbanks, Alaska) and Kaitlin Bembenek (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) finished in 1:53.71; Sadie Novak-Klug (So., Waseca, Minn.) crossed the one-mile finish line in 5:33.61; Sarah Swanson tossed the weight throw a distance of 14.18 meters and the shot put 13.17 meters; and Jalia Anderson cleared a height of 3.11 meters in the pole vault.
The track and field teams return to action next Saturday at the Ted Nelson Classic, hosted by Minnesota State University, Mankato.