ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s and women’s track & field squads officialy opened the 2018 indoor season Friday at “The Opener” at the University of St. Thomas, turning in several strong finishes on each side.
The Gustie men posted seven top-five finishes including one top finish, while the women also claimed one top finish along with six top-five finishes.
“We had some solid performances,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “Our whole goal for this week was to break the rust off and see where were at. It is fun to see people back out competing again.”
MEN
During his collegiate debut, Taylor Rooney (Fy., Andover, Minn.) shined for the Gusties, winning the 60-meter hurdles at 8.36, which was two tenths of a second faster than anybody in the MIAC all of last year. Rooney also tied for third in the high jump with a leap of 6-0.75.
“Taylor put on a heck of a show, a pretty impressive mark for a first year. He is learning that working hard is going to pay off in the long road,” Bahr said.
Additonally, three other Gusties had top-five finishes:
- Jack Blaney (Jr., Lake Elmo, Minn.) came in 4th in the 60-meter dash at 7.36
- Ben Madigan (Jr., Kohler, Wis.) came in 5th in the 600-meter run at 1:24.70
- Ryley Sandberg (Sr., Polk City, Iowa) came in 2nd in the one-mile run at 4:29.63
- The 4×400-meter relay Bobby Verchota (Sr., Hastings, Minn.), Brennan Gustafson (Fy., Kasson, Minn.), Sandberg, and Madigan were runners-up at 3:37.32
“Jack Blaney ran nice for us in the sprints and looks strong,” Bahr said. “Ryley Sandberg ended up passing three guys to move from fifth to second so that was fun to see. Ben Madigan runs with heart and it is kind of infectious.”
WOMEN
Lily Anderson (So., Waterville, Minn.) led the way for the Gustavus women, winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01:56 and taking fourth in the 200-meter dash at 27.17.
Additionally, Lydia Hayes (Sr., Decorah, Iowa) and Kourtney Kulseth (Fy., New Richland, Minn.) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 800-meter run with times of 2:27.94 and 2:28.47.
The team of Lily Anderson, Hayes, Megan Hill (So., Denver, Colo.), and Haley Anderson (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished as the runner-up in the 4×400-meter relay, coming in at 4:19.10.
“Lily Anderson had a good start to her season. She learned a lot her freshman year to train smart and showed it today. We had a fairly strong contingence of ladies in the mid-distance that performed well. That is always nice to see,” Bahr commented on the women.
Gustavus returns to action next Friday, competing in the Vanessa Seljeskog Classic on the campus of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.