(Photo courtesy of David Faulkner, SPX Sports.)
MANKATO, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s and women’s track and field teams finished competition at the Ted Nelson Classic Saturday night. Of the teams involved there were seven Division II schools, eight Division III schools, five junior colleges, as well as unattached athletes.
The Gusties had a handful of top finishers and also saw Birgen Nelson and Katie Keelin set school records in their respective events.
“I am really proud of the way our team competed today,” said Head Coach Aaron Lund. “Katie [Keelin] continues to write her story as a senior captain–improving her school record weight throw mark to 16.61m which currently ranks 21st nationally. Birgen [Nelson], in her first year, is making a huge impact already. She improved her 60m hurdle time to a 9.08 for a new school record and currently ranks 24th in the nation. She also jumped on the opportunity to take on the 400m for the first time this season and did extremely well.”
MEN
200m
51. Matthew Montplaisir – 24.07
400m
27. Seth Zeitchick – 53.93
600m
3. Noah Johnson – 1:23.29
4x400m relay
5. Nick Olfert, Jack Marble, Brennan Gustafson, Noah Johnson – 3:32.27
High jump
2. Taylor Rooney – 2.00
Long jump
13. Rooney – 6.22m
Triple jump
8. Alexander DuMoulin – 13.63m
23. Montplaisir – 11.66m
Shot put
4. Steven Orzolek – 15.89m
22. Andrew Bradley – 12.91m
WOMEN
60m hurdles
6. Birgen Nelson – 9.08 (school record, second in MIAC)
Weight Throw
13. Katie Keelin – 16.61m (new school record)
200m
34. Rachel Studer -27.40
400m
12. Sara Moen – 1:01.14
14. Nelson – 1:14.74
16. Elizabeth Donnelly – 1:02.64
Mile
14. Haley Anderson – 5:33.47
3000m
5. Tierney Winter – 10:21.47
High Jump
10. Halley Brocker – 1.47m
11. Arianna Burmaster – 1.47m
“I was also really excited to see the passion and competitive spirit from Rachel [Studer], Tierney [Winter], Sara [Moen], Matt [Montplaisir], Andrew [Bradley], and Xander [DuMoulin] today,” said Lund. “There is so much confidence growing in each of them and I think our team is starting to truly come together and believe they can compete with anyone. It’s fun to see our team grow closer together and I believe we have something special happening here. We are three weeks out from the indoor conference championships and things are starting to come together at the right time.”
The Gusties are next in action on Friday and Saturday when they will send some athletes to SDSU on both days while also sending a group to Carleton on Saturday.