The St. Olaf men’s and women’s track and field teams performed strongly at the MIAC Indoor Championships on March 7-8 at St. John’s University. The men’s team finished the event in second place, with the women’s team finishing just a little further down the ladder at fourth place.
The men’s team was led by Grant Wintheiser ’15, who set both a meet record and a track record on the first day of the event when he recorded a time of 4:11.94 in the mile. His superb form continued the following day, setting a meet record in the 3000-meter with a time of 8:28.10.
The Oles claimed victory in two other events, with Jake Campbell ’16 winning the 5000-meter and the 4×400-meter relay team of James McFarlin ’16, J.B. Tut ’14, Kevin Skrip ’16 and Aaron Stets ’16 finishing in front of the rest of the field.
Stets also had success in other events, finishing third in the 400-meter 50.16 and fifth in the 200-meter 22.72, earning him All-MIAC and All-MIAC honorable honors.
McFarlin earned an All-MIAC honorable mention as he placed fourth in the 400-meter 50.28.
It was not only Wintheiser who had success in the distance events for the Oles. Paul Escher ’16 finished second in the mile and also second in the 1000-meter event. Jacob Eggers ’17 finished fifth twice – first in the 800-meter 1:58.17 and then in the 1000-meter 2:33.79 – to claim a pair of All-MIAC honorable mentions.
The women’s team was led by Danielle Larson ’15, who picked up wins in the high jump 1.68m and the 4×400-meter relay with teammates Naomi Hesse ’16, Shaina Rud ’14 and Moriah Novacinski ’14 4:02.45. Novacinski finished third in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:57.94, earning All-MIAC honors.
Megan Holmes ’15 earned an All-MIAC honorable mention in the mile with a fifth place finish 5:14.79. Other notable results include Jorden Johnson ’15, who finished third in the 5000-meter run 18:04.52 and Emma Fulton ’16, who placed fourth in the pole vault with a height of 3.07 meters – enough to earn an All-MIAC honorable mention.
