Michael Hensch (Photo courtesy of Nathan Lodermeier)
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s track & field team sit in sixth place of 11 teams after day one of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, scoring 23 points on the campus of Carleton College. The University of St. Thomas is in first place with 69 points.
Michael Hensch (Jr., North Branch, Minn.) led the Gusties during the first day of competition, contributing 18 points towards the team’s total. Hensch won the javelin throw at 192-1 as his second best career outdoor throw was 15 feet ahead of the next closest competitor. He also won the event last year with a personal best throw of 206-8. In the shot put, Hensch finished with a runner-up personal best outdoor shot put of 52-5.25.
The Gusties also scored points in the 4×800-meter relay and the 10,000-meter run:
Brennan Gustafson (Fy., Boone, Iowa), Bobby Verchota (So., Hastings, Minn.), Ryley Sandberg (Sr., Polk City, Iowa), and Ben Madigan (Jr., Kohler, Wis.) finished in eighth place in the 4×800-meter relay with a time of 8:06.85.
Andrew Stumbo (Fy., Boone, Iowa) earned four points with a fifth place 10,000-meter run time of 32:46.03.
Another pair of Gusties also qualified for the finals tomorrow in their respective events. Taylor Rooney (Fy., Andover, Minn.) qualified for 110-meter hurdle finals with a personal best time of 14.61. Sandberg qualified for the 1,500-meter run finals with a time of 4:09.50.
“We’re happy to be in fifth at this point,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “We had some good races and performances and should be able to score some more points tomorrow in the throws. Right now, the men are in an okay position but the unfortunate thing is we don’t have too many in the finals for the track events.
Events continue tomorrow at 2 p.m. during the final day of competition.