Northfield, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s indoor track and field team stayed the course on the final day of the 2013 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, finishing fourth with 75 points. The Gusties tallied 31 points after recording eight top-eight finishes on day two.
“I couldn’t be happier with how we finished today,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr following today’s meet. “It’s always a treat to see who is going to step up and make it happen. The younger athletes were up to the challenge and the veterans showed their experience and that made for a fun meet.”
St. Thomas won 2013 title for the 14th straight season, totaling 180 points at the two-day meet. St. Olaf finished second with 83 points, while Saint Benedict took third with 81 points.
The Gustie women benefited from a big showing in the 3,000-meter run, as Rebecca Hare (So., Albany, Minn.), Caitlin Fermoyle (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.), and Beth Hauer (Sr., Little Falls, Minn.) all recorded finishes inside the top eight. Hare turned in Gustavus’s top performance in the 3,000 – and day for that matter – with a second place finish after crossing the finish line in 10:25.30. Behind Hare’s All-Conference run was Fermoyle in seventh (10:36.67) and Hauer in eighth (10:40.01).
“The 3,000 runners, Rebecca, Caitlin, and Beth, looked strong today – especially after Rebecca and Beth both competed in the 5,000 the day before,” Bahr said. “Rebecca is turning into an outstanding runner and we’re so proud of her effort this weekend. As a whole, it was great to see our track athletes gut out such a strong performances.”
Amanda Iverson (Sr., Waconia, Minn.) also provided the Gusties surprise points in the 600-meter dash, taking fifth with a time of 1:39.21. The 4×200-meter relay team comprised of Hana Fischer (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.), Haley Kemper (So., Prior Lake, Minn.), Leah Brossoit (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.), and Kaitlin Bembenek (So., Prior Lake, Minn.) took seventh (1:48.54), while the 4×400-meter of Kemper, Bembenek, Jenny Hendricks (Sr., New Prague, Minn.), and Iverson also finished seventh (4:06.53).
In the field events, Hayley Solheim (Fy., Crookston, Minn.) and Nevada Wendlandt (Jr., Maplewood, Minn.) paced the team with fifth place marks. Solheim capped her breakout rookie indoor season with a toss of 40-feet 9-inches in the shot put. Fresh off a runner-up performance in the pole vault on day one, Wendlandt placed fifth in the high jump after clearing 5-feet 1-inch.
Leah Brossoit placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 16-feet 3-iches, and Rachel Colter (So., North St. Paul, Minn.) came in ninth in the shop put (38-11.75) to round out the Black and Gold’s top competitors.
“There are always kids who step up and that’s something you just can’t predict,” commented Bahr. “Because of those type performances, we are consistently a team that challenges for a spot inside the top four. An outstanding job by the ladies once again today.”