St. Thomas' Indoor Track Streaks Roll On

The University of St. Thomas men made themselves a perfect 27-for-27 at the conference indoor meet with an eight-point victory over Hamline University at the 2011 MIAC Indoor Championships.

Hardly outdone, the St. Thomas women extended their own streak of MIAC Indoor Championship victories to twelve, outdistancing St. Benedict's 146-107.

The Tommie men have won all 27 of the MIAC Indoor Championships contested by the conference, dating back to 1985. With their streak, the Tommie women now claim 24 of the 27 women's championships ever contested.

The men's victory was the second closest in team history -- this year's 166-158 score topping a seven-point margin (also over their St. Paul rivals) last year.

Tommie Men ... A broad attack powered the Tommie men -- they scored in 18 of the meet's 20 events, getting points from 20 separate individuals. The Tommie's gathered seven first-place, four runner-up, and five third-place finishes at the meet.

Junior Mike Hutton was a triple winner. Hutton anchored the 4x400 relay to first place and also won the 800m (1:53.61) and 600m (1:12.53).

Fellow junior Ben Sathre set a meet record in the 3000m as he clocked 8:29.09. He also won the 5000m in 14:32.

Senior Matt Griswold scored in six separate events: he won the pentathlon (3418 points); ran on the winning 4x400m relay; took second in the 55m hurdles (7.78); was sixth in the 200m (22.95); finished eighth in the 400m (51.85); and ran on the third-place 800m relay team (1:30.59).

Sophomore Eyo Ekpo scored 26 points as he won the triple jump (47-5 3-4) and took second in both the high jump (6-6 3-4) and the long jump (22-1 3-4).

Tommie Women ... The St. Thomas women powered to victory on the strength of 13 separate athletes scoring in 17 of 20 events -- including one really busy rookie.

Freshman Emily Van Heel powered the team, winning four individual events, carrying the baton on a first-place and a runner-up relay team, and nabbing 7th in a fifth individual event.

The Little Falls native won the triple jump (37-5); the 55m (7.27), 200m (25.48) and 400m dashes (58.42); and capped the meet as she kicked home to victory on the last lap of the 4x400m relay.

Van Heel also ran on the runner-up 800 relay and scored two points with a seventh in the long jump (16-10 3-4).

Senior Allie Metzler contributed 22 points to the Tommie effort with a 2nd-place finish in the 5,000 (18:02.58), a third in the 3,000 (10:16.97), and anchored the team's runner-up DMR.

Melissa Kuebler (8.43) and sophomore Katie Ryan (8.66) finished 1-3 in the 55m hurdles. Senior Amy Maas placed second in the weight throw (52-10 3-4) and third in the shot put (39-7 1-4).

In all, St. Thomas had six winners, four runners-up, and three third-place finishers.

Find complete results of the meet HERE (men) and HERE (women).