St. Thomas in Command in MIAC Indoor Champs

St. Thomas continues to dominate the MIAC Indoor Track Championships as both the men's and women's teams lead after the first full day of competition at St. John's Universtiy in Collegeville. The women scored 119 points, 56 points ahead of second-place Concordia-Moorhead. Three Tommie women won MIAC titles with new Donald McNeely Spectrum records: junior Katie Theisen in the 800 meters (2:15.00), sophomore Nikki Arola in the 400 meters (58.41) and senior Carol Comp in the weight throw (15.98 meters). Arola also claimed the conference championship in the 55-meter dash (7.41) in a tie with Augsburg sophomore Whitney Holman, while sophomore Laura Janas won the 55-meter hurdles (8.63) and senior Selina Dehn won the long jump (5.35 meters).

Concordia had three second-place finishes: sophomore Kristin Slette in the 400m (60.29), sophomore Valerie Glynn in the high jump (1.6m) and sophomore Leah Kay in the pentathlon (3,249 points).

Bethel is in third place with 52 points. Sophomore Marie Borner automatically qualified for the NCAA mile with a new Spectrum and meet record time of 4:54.49. Carleton senior Katherine Wingert also surpassed the old Spectrum (5:12.67) and meet records (5:05.32) with a time of 5:03.54 in second. In the distance medley relay, Borner, Ashley Keefe, Kayla Jelen and Heather Jelen of Bethel claimed the conference title with a new meet record time of 12:27.15.

The Gustavus women scored 45 points, good for fourth place. Sophomore Kaelene Lundstrum claimed two MIAC titles. Lundstrum won the pentathlon with a meet record of 3,342 points and the high jump(1.6 meters).

The St. Thomas men scored 139 points. Junior James Ewer won MIAC titles in the 55-meter dash and the long jump. Ewer’s time of 6.34 seconds automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships May 14-15 in Ada, Ohio. UST also received conference crowns from junior Brian Sames in the 800m (1:54.68), senior Neil Atzinger in the mile with a new Spectrum record of 4:16.29, and senior Derek Marks in the weight throw (17.15 meters), another Spectrum record.

The Saint John’s men are in second with 68.5 points . Senior Chris Erichsen automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5,000 meters with a new Spectrum record time of 14:31.02, while senior Mike Leither won the heptathlon with a total of 4,754 points. Hamline's Brandon Gleason was second in the 5K in 14:35.2, an NCAA provisional qualifying time, as the second through sixth place runners all ran provisional qualifiers. Hamline is third in the team race with 42 points.

Bethel sophomore Taylor Ferda won the 55-meter hurdles with a Spectrum-record time of 7.62 seconds, while Carleton junior Tom Ballinger won the 400-meters. Bethel is fourth in the team standings with 39 points. Carleton is in fifth with 35.

St. Olaf’s distance medley relay team of Tim Drahn, Tom Marti, Dan Varley and Doboul Ruon won the MIAC title with a new Spectrum record of 10:20.56. St. Olaf is sixth in the team compeition with 30 points. Gustavus’ Drew Hood, who finished second in the heptathlon, won the conference championship in the pole vault with a height of 4.56 meters. Gustavus is in seventh with 29.5 points.

The St. Thomas men have won every MIAC Indoor meet since 1985. The St. Thomas women are aiming for their eighth straight title. They have won 20 team titles since 1985. Concordia has won the other three titles, their last coming in 1999.