Women's Track & Field eyes another good year in 2010

January 20, 2010

Coach Joe Sweeney is hoping the new decade plays out much like the last one for his Tommie women's track and field team.

St. Thomas captured six individual NCAA titles and won 19 of a possible 20 indoor and outdoor track and field MIAC team championships during the 2000s. Of the last 50 conference meets held since 1985, the Tommies have won 45 team crowns.

Sweeney likes the depth and balance of the 2010 squad as it eases into its indoor season.

There's some transition this year. The Tommie graduates for 2009 include All-American distance runner/hurdler Katie Theisen as well as sprinter Shionna Evans and jumper Alyssa Salomone. Plus, the construction of the new on-campus Anderson Athletics and Recreation Center has changed the routines and forced coaches to get creative for indoor workouts at off-campus sites.

"We're pretty deep and pretty balanced," Sweeney said. "We graduated some good athletes but return our main core in the sprints and middle distances."

Senior All-American sprinter Nikki Arola leads the Tommie returners. An Academic All-American, Arola was named the Outstanding Women's Track Athlete of last May's MIAC outdoor championships. She contributed 41 points as St. Thomas rallied from a 40-point deficit on the final day to capture its 23rd MIAC team title in 25 seasons. Arola swept the 200-meter dash (25.60) and 400-meter dash (57.32) and ran on the winning 4x100 (48.57) and 4x400 relays (3:51.56, meet record). She also ran the 100-meter dash and placed eighth. She ran in nine prelim or final races over two days.

St. Thomas is 6-for-6 in MIAC team crowns indoors and outdoors in Arola's era. She has contributed to 18 MIAC individual or relay championships in the last five MIAC indoor and outdoor meets. She's a two-time All-American on the indoor distance medley relay and ran on the Tommies' first-place distance medley team in April at the Drake Relays. She's also a three-time MIAC Athlete of the Week winner since March 2008.

Russ, Sprangers also back

The Toms also boast a strong middle distance crew led by senior All-Americans Kelly Russ and Erin Sprangers and junior Raynee DeGrio. Russ placed seventh nationally in the 1,500 meters, and Sprangers placed seventh in the 800 meters as a sophomore in 2008. Both ran on the 2008 and 2009 NCAA runner-up distance medley relay. Russ was a four-time All-MIAC runner in cross country, while Sprangers was the MIAC sccer Player of the Year in 2008.

Freshman Taylor Berg of Eagan had a strong cross country season and is expected to contribute here, as well.

Juniors Allie Metzler (10th place 2009 MIAC cross country) and Alyssa Rassett-Mehl are others from the cross country team that will lead UST in the distance races.

In the sprints, Arola, junior Jenna Ewing and senior Molly Demmer lead the returners, and freshman Kristie Miller of Forest Lake shows promise in the shprt dashes and the triple jump. In the hurdles, UST will be led by senior Laura Janas, sophomore Traci Pastoors, and juniors Gina Michaels and Angela McGehee.

Tommie throwers are expected to again carry much of the scoring load led by seniors Megan Honan and Jenna Lewis. Lewis qualified for outdoors nationals last May in the shot put, as did junior Felisha Willaert in the discus. Nicole Flackey of Ladysmith, Wis., also has potential to score well.

In the jumps, junior Juilanna Gorder (LJ) and Pastoors (TJ) top the returners. In the pole vault, Britnery Daniel is a standout.

St. Thomas men's and women's squads have won 99 all-time MIAC team titles in indoor and outdoor track and field and will look to surpass the 100 milestone this March 5-6 when the conference indoor meet is held at Carleton.