Meet record, field events highlight first day of 2013 MIAC Outdoor T&F meet

http://www.miac-online.org/news/2013/5/10/MOTRACK_0510131412.aspx

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The 2013 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships began Friday on the University of St. Thomas campus in St. Paul, Minn. Several field-event and a few running-event champions were crowned in addition to the preliminary races, and a new women's shot put record was among the first-day highlights and the conference's marquee outdoor track and field event.

Thanks to its solid field-event performances, Concordia leads the women's field with 71 points. St. Olaf is second with 36, Carleton has 24 and Gustavus, Hamline and Saint Benedict are all tied for fourth at 22. Defending champion St. Thomas is in seventh with 16 points. Macalester has 10, Bethel and Augsburg each have 5.0 and St. Catherine has 1.0 after one full day of competition.

WOMEN'S RESULTS

Hamline's Becky Culp delivered Friday's top individual performance as she successfully defended her title in the MIAC women's shot put. The Piper star set a new MIAC meet record during her first-place performance, as her winning throw traveled a distance of 47-10 feet, or 14.58 meters. She broke a 16-year-old record, 47-8, set by former Hamline thrower Misty Bahr in 1997.

The Concordia women also had a big night in the field events. Senior star Kaari Jensen defended her MIAC javelin title with a winning throw of 127-3 (38.80 meters). Jensen, who won her second-straight multi-event title last weekend, outdistanced the rest of the javelin field by nearly eight feet. Teammate Hilary Thompson added another Cobber field-event championship in the long jump, as she recorded a winning distance of 18-1.75 (5.53 meters).

Friday's two running finals were good for the two Northfield schools. St. Olaf's Emma Lee won the 10,00-meter run with a time of 35:56.83, and teammate Becca Bevans finished second (36:05.25). The Carleton women successfully defended their title in the 4x800-meter relay, as Sarah Trautman, Colette Celichowski, Ruth Steinke and Haley Johnson finished the course in 9:13.43 to edge St. Thomas by less than a second.

The Tommie men took a lead in their quest to repeat, racking up 94 points thus far. Gustavus is second with 46.5 and Saint John's sits third with 35. Bethel and St. Olaf are tied with 26.5 points each and Carleton is a half-point back of that pair with 26. Concordia has 20.5 points, Hamline has 16, Macalester has 12 and Augsburg has 9.0 after Day One.

MEN'S RESULTS

St. Thomas thrower Abajemo Omot was Friday's top star in the men's meet, claiming two MIAC titles on Friday. Omot won the hammer throw title with a distance of 173-8 (52.95 meters) and added another championship in the discus with a winning distance of 154-0 (46.94 meters). The Tommies also got a title in the long jump from freshman Charlie Pechous, who recorded a first-place finish by jumping 23-0.5. Teammate and field-event star Eyo Ekpo was second, and defending champion Blair Riegel from Gustavus finished fifth.

Ekpo was unseated as the champ in the men's high jump by Macalester freshman Logan Hovie. The Scot rookie and Ekpo both cleared 6-9 Friday, and Hovie was awarded the title with Ekpo coming in second. A similar situation played out in the pole vault. Gustavus' Josh Owens, who was the runner-up in 2012, claimed the title by clearing the bar at 15-5.5, or 4.71 meters. Owens started at 4.61 meters. Concordia's Erik Olson also cleared 15-5.5 and was awarded second place.

Saint John's - which won the 2011 team title - had a good day Friday as well. John Subialka won the men's 10,000-meter run championship by completing the course in 31:50.42. The Johnnies also claimed a relay title in the men's 4x800-meter relay with a winning time of 7:45.60. Chris Mergens, Eric Mann, Kyle Rossow and Thomas Feichtinger made up SJU's winning squad.

In the men's preliminary events, numerous MIAC teams had something to cheer about. The defending champion Tommies look strong again after recording the top time in the 4x100-meter relay (41.85). UST's Cody Jerabek set himself up to defend his titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, as he recorded Friday's top times in both. Jerabek finished the 100 in 10.90 and the 200 in 21.90. Kevin Horton continued Saint John's great day, as he ran the top time in the 400-meter dash (48.58) and he was a close second behind Jerabek in the 200 with a time of 21.98.

The Bethel men had a good day. Anthony Puckett recorded the fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles (55.28) and Rob LeMay - the defending champion in the 400-meter run - ran the second-best time Friday with a 48.87. Carleton's Noah Laack-Veeder (1:55.74) led a trio of Knights runners who recorded the fastest time in the 800-meter run prelims. Hamline's Eric Hanson had the top 110-meter hurdle preliminary time of 15.40, and Saint Mary's Peter Borash led the 1,500-meter run prelim field with a time of 4:03.37.

The St. Thomas women also had a tremendous run in the prelims, recording the top time in five of the eight events. The Tommies were first in the 4x100-meter relay prelim with a time of 47.17. Indoor Track Athlete-of-the-Year Taylor Berg continued her great senior season, as her time of 4:50.52 led the 1,500-metetr run prelims. Mallory Burnham (14.98) had the top time in the 100-meter hurdle prelims, Angela Tipp's 56.70 led the 400-meter run field and Emily Van Heel had the fastest time in the 200-meter run (24.23).

Defending 100- and 200-meter run champ Ashley Carney of Augsburg ran the best time in the 100 prelims (12.37) and the No. 3 time in the 200 (25.71) Friday. St. Olaf's Dani Larson ran a 61.78 in the 400-meter hurdles, which was three full seconds faster than the rest of the field. Carleton's Haley Johnson had the top time in Friday's 800-meter run prelims by finishing in 2:16.03.

The 2013 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will conclude Saturday with an exciting schedule of events. Saturday's action will start with the National Anthem at 11:50 a.m. The Day 2 field events start at 12 p.m. and the track events will begin at 1 p.m. The full schedule of events is available online.

Saturday's final event begins at 4:35 p.m., and there will be a short awards ceremony following the conclusion of the meet to honor both team champions. The top three individuals in each event and the first-place relay team will automatically earn All-Conference honors, and the fourth- through sixth-place finishers in each open event and second- through sixth-place relay teams will all be named All-Conference Honorable Mention.

The MIAC has a Web page dedicated to the event, and complete results, recaps, and multimedia coverage of the championships will be available on that site throughout the event. There will be live results available for all events courtesy of Apple Raceberry Jam and fans can also find entries and heat sheets on the MIAC's event page as they become available.

Admission for the event is $7 for adults and $3 for students per day, with children ages 5 and under admitted free. MIAC passes will be honored. The MIAC would like to thank the University of St. Thomas, its coaches, and its staff, for its efforts as the host school. Stay tuned to St. Thomas' athletic web site for complete details and meet information.

2013 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Home Page