Alex Anderson (Photo courtesy of Nathan Lodermeier)
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s track & field team sit in sixth place of 11 teams after day one of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, scoring 25 points on the campus of Carleton College. The University of St. Thomas is in first place with 54.5 points.
Four Gusties earned points during day one of competition, scoring in several throwing events, the high jump, along with points from the 4×800-meter relay.
Katie Keelin (So., Burnsville, Minn.) and Bailey Van Den Heuvel (Jr., Mondovi, Wis.) both earned points in the hammer throw, placing third and fourth, respectively. Keelin had a throw of 153-8 and Van Den Heuvel’s throw of 152-5 was a personal best. Bella Klabough (Fy., Elysian, Minn.) earned three points with a sixth place discus throw of 124-4.
In the high jump, Alex Anderson (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.) took third place and six points with a leap of 5-1.25.
The 4×800-meter relay team of Lydia Hayes (Sr., Decorah, Iowa), Haley Anderson (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.), Josie Blake (Fy., Waukegan, Ill.), and Kourtney Kulseth (Fy., New Richland, Minn.) finished in fourth with a time of 9:35.33, tallying five team points.
Additionally, several Gusties qualified for the finals in their respective events:
McKayla Stowell (Jr., Le Sueur, Minn.) qualified for the 200-meter dash finals with a time of 25.81 and qualified in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.43. Abbie Schnabel (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.) qualified for 800-meter run final with time of 2:19.75. Lily Anderson (So., Waterville, Minn.) qualified for the 400-meter dash final at 1:00.26, and Tierney Winter (So., Waterville, Minn.) finished the 1,500-meter run in 5:00.24 to qualify for finals.
“The throwers stepped up today so that was fun to watch,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “We’re in a really good position having lots of people available to score points tomorrow in the finals. Definite shout out to the 4×800 relay team, all four of those ladies did not have a chance to score in an individual event but they got together and embraced their opportunity.”
Events continue tomorrow at 2 p.m. during the final day of competition.