The Gustavus Adolphus women’s outdoor track and field team is currently in first place with 48 points following the first day of competition at the 2012 MIAC Championships being held at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. Hamline sits in second with 44 points, while Concordia is in third with 40.5 points.
As they have made a habit of doing over the years, the Gusties relied on strong performances in the field events to set the tone for the meet.
Gustavus’ top performer of the day was junior Allyson Voss (Wausau, Wis.). After finishing third her first season and second her sophomore year, Voss capped her junior year by winning the pole vault after clearing 11-feet 11.75-inches. She is the first Gustie to take gold in the pole vault since Shanna Dawson did so in 2008.
The Gusties also scored big points from the long jump competition where three individuals scored a top-10 finish. Emily Klatt (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.) led the group with a second place performance after recording a leap of 18-1.50. Klatt’s mark is a season-best for her as the senior ranked fifth in the long jump entering the meet. Sarah Baker (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) came in fifth with a 17-7.5o and Lauren Rothschiller (Jr., Chaska, Minn.) took seventh with a 17-3.50.
In the hammer throw, senior Megan Endresen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) achieved podium status with a third place finish after registering a toss of 159-9. Endresen was seeded sixth in the hammer, topping her season-best throw by nearly ten feet today. Also cracking the top-10 was Elizabeth Weiers (Fy., Le Center, Minn.) who placed sixth after a throw of 144-9.
Capping off the day’s field events was Allyson Hannemann (Sr., Mansfield, Ohio) with a seventh place finish in the discus after a throw of 130-5.
Junior Beth Hauer (Little Falls, Minn.) was Gustavus’ top performer on the track. Hauer crossed the finish line in a season-best 37:48.09 to place fifth in the 10,000-meter run, earning Gustavus four points.
After sold runs in the prelims on Friday, Gustavus will look for strong performances out of the 400-meter dash and the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday. In the 400-meter dash, first-year Sarah Lundgren (Mankato, Minn.) and junior Amanda Iverson (Waconia, Minn.) both qualified for Saturday’s finals. Lundgren crossed the line in 59.27 while Iverson went 59.13.
The same is true for the 400-meter hurdles where Danielle Burgmeier (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) and Erica Roelofs (Sr., Vernon Center, Minn.) will look to score points. Burgmeier is the one to beat tomorrow after she turned in the best time of the day with a 64.39. She will run in lane four, while Roelofs will run in lane one with a qualifying time of 66.71.
Saturday’s action starts with field events at 11:30 a.m., and running events kick off at 1 p.m. with the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The final event of the day – the 4×400-meter relay – will start at 5 p.m. with the women’s race first and the men’s race second. A short awards ceremony to honor the team champions will follow the conclusion of the meet.
The MIAC has set up a home page for the 2012 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, including entries, heat sheets, links to live scoring and other meet information, and it will be updated throughout the weekend with results and recaps. Concordia’s sports information department also has a home page for the event, with terrific updates, photo galleries and more, and it will also be updated frequently throughout the meet.