On the strength of its pole vaulting crew, the Gustavus women’s indoor track and field team is eighth following the first day of the 2007 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships with 24.5 points. St. Thomas leads the way with 62 points.
Gustavus, which picked up 23.5 points in the pole vault alone, was led by senior Janna Castellano (Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace), who took the title with a school- and meet-record vault of 12 feet, 2 inches. Castellano broke her own school record of 11-7 3/4 set at Carleton last weekend and broke the MIAC Championship meet record of 12-0 3/4 set by Karolien Bastiaens of St. Thomas in 2003. Castellano also matched the NCAA automatic qualifying mark, punching her ticket to next weekend’s NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Junior Shanna Dawson (Fairmont, Minn.) tied for second after clearing 10-8 1/4, while Meredith Halling (Fy., Rochester, Minn./Mayo) took fourth with an effort of 10-2 1/2. Becca Swanson tied for seventh after clearing 9-2 1/2. Linda Kanne (So., Franklin, Minn./Cedar Mountain) and Kaylee Munson (Fy., Mankato, Minn./West) each cleared 8-8 3/4, but Kanne finished tied for ninth and Munson tied for 11th after tie-breakers were applied.
The Gustavus women picked up their other point Friday in the long jump, where Sari Lindeman (Jr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) placed eighth after posting a distance of 16-7 1/4. Lindeman placed fifth in her qualifying heat but was not able to improve on her distance in the finals. Becca Bryson (Fy., Alden, Minn./Alden-Conger) also finished fifth in her qualifying heat (16-4 1/2) but failed to advance the finals.
In the weight throw, Anna Bauer (Fy., Hastings, Minn.) placed fourth in her qualifying heat with a throw of 44-5 1/2, while Ashley Clemen (Sr., Appleton, Minn/Lac qui Parle Valley) took eighth in hers with a toss of 41-1. Neither was able to advance to the final.
Carlie Hanson (Sr., Buffalo, Minn.) placed 10th in the 400 (62.57), Elizabeth Pringle (So., Northfield, Minn.) took 13th in the 400 (63.68), Sam Madsen (So., Morgan, Minn./Cedar Mountain) placed 10th in the 800 (2:25.19), Jill Fagerstrom (So., Rosemount, Minn.) finished 12th in the 5000 (19:23.02), and the distance medley relay team of Heidi Bulfer (Sr., Fairmont, Minn.), Krista Cruse (Sr., Hastings, Minn.), Raychal Zupancich (Jr., Ely, Minn./Memorial), and Val Berquam (Sr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) took ninth in a time of 13:24.28. Funto Okanla (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Arlington) (7.70) and Kelsey Becker (Sr. Lakeville, Minn.) (7.82) each competed in the 55 dash but were unable to make it out of their qualifying heats.
2007 MIAC Indoor Championships web site (hosted by St. Olaf)