The Gustavus women’s track and field team used three top-eight results to finish a program-best sixth place with 27 points on the final day of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Marietta, Ohio. Wartburg College won the team title with 52 points. Kaelene Lundstrum (Jr., Bird Island, Minn.) and Sam Broderius (So., Hector, Minn.) finished second in the high jump and seventh in the shot put, respectively, while the 4×400 meter relay placed eighth.
Kaelene Lundstrum cleared a season-best height of 5 feet, 7 inches on her final attempt to earn second place in the high jump. Ashley Huston of Hardin-Simmons won the event at the same height, but achieved it on her first attempt to win the title. Lundstrum completed the NCAA Championships with All-America status in the heptathlon and the high jump.
Sophomore Sam Broderius (Hector, Minn.) finished seventh in the shot put after posting a mark of 43 feet, 6 inches, while Lisa Brown (Lake Crystal, Minn.) placed 17th with a distance of 40 feet, 8 3/4 inches. Monique Riddick of Montclair State took first place at 51 feet, 9 inches. Broderius also garnered multiple All-America honors by placing in the top eight of the discus and the shot put.
The 4×400 meter relay team of Danielle Burgmeier (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.), Abby Karl (So., St. Cloud, Minn.), Elizabeth Pringle (Sr., Northfield, Minn.), and Lundstrum finished eighth in the event finals with a time of 3:54.47 to earn All-America recognition.
The Gusties finished the 2009 NCAA Championships with All-America honors in six events, including the javelin, the discus, the shot put, the heptathlon, the high jump, and the 4×400 meter relay, which is the most in program history. The previous record was four earned at the 1998 NCAA Championships in the 100 meters, the shot put, the hammer throw, and the 4×400 meter relay.