University of St. Thomas Athletics
MIAC Indoor Championships/St. Thomas Fieldhouse
Sweet team sweep for Track & Field
2/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
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For the 18th year in a row, St. Thomas repeated as team champions of MIAC men's and women's indoor track and field.
It was conference team crown 30 of 33 all time for the women. Coach Joe Sweeney won his 80th championship in the sports of cross country and indoor/outdoor track.
The Tommie men made it 33-for-33 with the 2017 gold trophy. Coach Steve Mathre won his 38th team title indoors and outdoors of his 22-year era.
The UST men outscored St. Olaf for first, 180-120, with Bethel in third with 100 points.
The Tommie women pulled away to score 195 points and top runner-up St. Ben's by 94. Carleton placed third with 79.
The Tommie men scored in 20 of 21 events with five firsts, all in the field events. The Toms scored 61 points in the long, high and triple jumps alone, plus another 20 in the pole vault.
Mathre's team had 28 different athletes contribute points. Leading the way were:
- soph Conor White scored 23 points as he swept the long and triple jumps and also scored in the high jump;
- senior Evan Cross scored 19 led by a win in the high jump;
- senior Connor O'Neill won the pole vault and scored 17 points;
- junior Austin Jochum won the weight throw;
- Chris Mueller anchored the runner-up 4x400 relay and took fourth in the 400 and fifth in the 600;
- Anthony Ekholm took third in the 60 and 200 dashes and ran on the third-place 4x200 relay with Ryan Neville, Dan Sauro and Michael Witschen;
- Trevor Smith took third in the 3,000 and fifth in the 5,000;
- Preston Huddleston scored nine with a second in the heptathlon and eighth in the high jump.
The UST women scored in 19 of 21 events, led by seven firsts. Ten members of the Tommies' conference champion cross country team alone helped score 99 points in the 600, 800, 1000, mile, 3,000, 5,000 and distance medley.
Sweeney's team also had 28 different athletes score and 24 top-five finishes. Leading the Purple were:
- Seniors Alex Fossum (3000 and 5000) and Kayla Janto (600 and 800) each scored 20 points with a pair of track wins;
- UST also won the Distance Medley and 4x200 relays;
- the Toms got a weight throw victory from senior Olivia Graham.
- Laura Eischens scored 18 points with a second in the pentathlon, a third in the long jump, and a fifth in the 60 hurdles.
- Carly Barton took second in the 600 and fifth in the 800 for 12 points;
- Jenny Walz placed second in the mile and fourth in the 1000 for 13 points;
- Brielle Bierman took third in the 60 hurdles and ran on the winning distance-medley (with Bridget Schmitt, Morgan Dammann and Megan Gossfeld) and 4x200 (with Steph Kretlow, Katelyn Marciniak and Katie Murray);
- Ali Glassbrenner scored 11 with a third in the 1000 and fourth in the 600;
- Grace Bordson took second in the high jump, while Jalia Anderson took second in the pole vault;
- Bridget McGivern placed fifth in the 3000 and seventh in the 5,000, while freshman Sar Ness took third in the mile and eighth in the 3000;
- Katie Murray scored in the 60 and 200 and anchored the winning 4x200;
- Allison Mellin took third in the weight throw.
The Tommie women also had 24 individual and one relay post season-best times or marks while placing in the top eight:
- Fossum's winning 5000 (17:17) and 3,000 (10:05);
- Janto's winning 600 (1:36.45);
- Graham's winning shot put (50-0 1-2);
- the winning 4x200 with Steph Kretlow, Katelyn Marciniak, Bierman and Katie Murray (1:45.50);
- Jalia Anderson's runner-up pole vault (11-5);
- Barton's runner-up 600 (1:38.39) and fifth-place 600 (2:19.42);
- Walz' runner-up mile (5:10.32) and fourth-place 1000 (3:01.00);
- Eischens' runner-up pentathlon (3,230), third place long jump (17-4 3-4); and fifth-place hurdles (9.13);
- Ali Glassbrenner's third-place 1000 (2:59.80) and fourth-place 800 (2:17.94);
- Bierman's third-place 60 hurdles (9.10);
- freshman Sara Ness' third-place mile (5:15.08);
- Mariah Terhaar's third-place high jump (5-1 1-4);
- Kendall Novak's third-place pole vault (11-1);
- Bridget McGivern's seventh-place 5,000 (18:14);
- Jordan Sifferle's sixth-place pole vault (10-1 1-4);
- Elizabeth Russell's sixth-place triple jump (35-0 1-4);
- Mallory Adamson's seventh-place 600 (1:39.24);
- Murray's eighth-place 200 (26.48);
- and Taylor Quandt's eighth-place triple jump (34-1 1-4).
On the men's side, 20 individuals with top-eight finishes also had season-best times or marks:
- White has season bests in his winning triple jump (45-5 340) and long jump (23-3 1-2) and sixth-place high jump (6-1 1-2);
- Cross in the winning high jump (6-5 1-2) and runner-up long jump (22-9 3-4);
- the 4x400 team of Josh Prater, Ryan Queenan, James Skidmore and Mueller (3:22.28);
- Huddleston's runner-up (4817) and O'Neill's third-place hepatathlon (4816), and Huddleston's 22-2 1-2 in that event's long jump;
- Ekholm's third-place 60 (7.00);
- Micah Hausman's third-place shot put (52-1 3-4);
- Smith's third-place 3,000 (8:46.92);
- Mueller's fourth-place 400 (50.40);
- Lucas Cronin's fourth-place pole vault (15-1 1-4);
- Colin Duellman's fourth-place 60 (7.04);
- Evan Keil's fifth-place pole vault (15-1 1-2);
- Mike Ryan's seventh-place 5000 (15:34.48);
- Charlie Jones' seventh-place 1000 (2:31.13);
- Prater's seventh-place long jump (22-0 1-4);
- Witschen's seventh-place triple jump (42-11 1-2);
- Karl Wachter's eighth-place 1000 (2:31.26).
Women
Cobber Emma Peterson won the high jump in an MIAC record 5-7 3-4, while UST's Grace Bordsen took second.
The Toms lead second-place St. Ben's by 60 points with nine events to go.
St. Thomas won the 4x200 relay and extended its lead on St. Ben's to 67 points with eight to go.
Men
Conor White pulled off the weekend long jump and triple jump sweep and added a sixth in the high jump for 23 individual points. The Tommie sophomore from Providence Academy hit 45-5 3-4 to win by three inches over Desmond Stewart of St. Mary's. The seeded St. John's jumper placed third.
UST scored 19 points in the triple jump and extended its team lead past 55 points on second-place St. Olaf with nine events to go.
The Toms scored 61 points in the long, high and triple jumps.
St. Olaf just went 2-3-4 in the 1000 to score 19 points and UST scored three points, cuttling the team lead to 41 points. Carleton's Jerry Cook-Gallardo edged the Oles' Joe Coffey for first in a meet record time of 2:26.01.
Players Mentioned
