BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The 2017 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships featured countless record-breaking and standout performances and, Thursday, the top individuals were honored with the announcement of the 2017 MIAC Men's Outdoor Track and Field Awards.
A pair of Gustavus Gusties were recognized for their performances, as Michael Hensch was voted Outstanding Field Athlete and his coach, Dale Bahr, was named the Men's Outdoor Track and Field Coach-of-the-Year. St. Olaf's Joe Coffey was named Outstanding Track Athlete and Carleton's Donson Cook-Gallardo was honored with the Outstanding Performance-of-the-Meet award for his showing in the 800-meter run. The conference also recognized the All-Conference and All-Sportsmanship Teams.
Hensch turned in a pair of tremendous field event performances to earn his MIAC honor. Hensch won the hammer throw with a winning effort of 55.68 meters, and he also added another conference title in the javelin. His winning mark in the javelin was 62.99 meters.
Coffey received Outstanding Track honors thanks to a performance that included a trio of MIAC titles at the 2017 meet. His top effort came in the 1500-meter run, where he captured a conference championship in the 1,500-meter run event with a time of 3:49.39. Coffey also ran to victory in the 5,000-meter run, with a time of 15:26.52 seconds, and he anchored St. Olaf's first-place relay effort in the 4x800, which shattered the conference record by 3 seconds with the final time of 7:33.39. Coffey's efforts helped St. Olaf finish in the top three as a team at the MIAC Outdoor meet.
Success in the 800-meter run is nothing new for Cook-Gallardo, but his latest performance was certainly his greatest. The Knights' junior won the MIAC Indoor title in the 1,000 for the third-straight season, and continued his success in his outdoor season with a record breaking time at the conference championship in the men's 800-meter race. Not only did he win the event, he broke a conference record from 1987 of 1:51.18, with a final time of 1:49.88.
This is Bahr's first men's track coaching honor during his eighth season leading the Gusties. Bahr coached the men's Gusties to a third-place finish with a final team score of 87 points at the 2017 MIAC Championships. He coached Hensch to Outstanding Field Athlete honors, and guided his team to three individual MIAC titles. Bahr's men's team racked up a total of six All-Conference honors in all at the 2017 meet.
Fans can re-live all the action of the 2017 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships online. The event home page has complete results, recaps and more from an exciting weekend.
2017 MIAC MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD AWARDS
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2017 Individual Awards Outstanding Track Athlete Outstanding Field Athlete Outstanding Performance-of-the-Meet Coach-of-the-Year |
2017 All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team |
2017 All-Conference Team
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Decathlon Hammer 1. Michael Hensch, Gustavus, 62.99m 2. Sean Hayes, Macalester, 56.67m 3. Luke CanZuilen, St. Thomas, 54,93m Triple Jump 1. Raymond Twumasi, St. John's, 14.59m 2. Desmond Steward, Saint Mary's, 13.79m 3. Connor White, St. Thomas, 13.65 Pole Vault 1. Connor O'Neill, St. Thomas, 5.09m 2. David Kemper, Saint Mary's, 4.73m 3. Maxwell Olson, St. John's, 4.63m Shot Put 1. Chase Duwenhoegger, Hamline, 17.03m 2. Travis Jacobson, Hamline, 16.96m 3. Micah Hausman, St. Thomas, 16.75
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3,000-meter Steeplechase 110-Meter Hurdles 400-Meter Dash
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