BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The 2023 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships are set to begin on Friday. Twelve women's teams and eleven men's teams from around the MIAC will compete in the three-day meet held Friday-Sunday at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
Following a one-day delay due to winter weather, the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships are set to begin on Friday with the multi-event competitions. The women's pentathlon starts at 2:00 p.m. with the men's heptathlon beginning 20 minutes later. The heptathlon finishes up Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. Saturday's field events are set to start at 3:30 p.m. and track will follow at 4:30 p.m. Sunday's final session starts with 10:15 a.m. field events and 1:00 p.m. track events. Sunday's final set of events - the men's and women's 4x400 relay - will begin at 4:10 p.m.
HANDING OUT THE HARDWARE
MIAC championship plaques will be presented to the first-place women's and men's teams at the conclusion of the meet on Sunday afternoon. The conference crowned two first-time champions last season, as Saint John's University won the men's title and Bethel University took home the women's.
The top three finishers in each event automatically earn All-Conference honors and the 4th-through-6th place finishers will receive Honorable Mention distinction.
Individual awards will be voted on by coaches following the meet and will be announced - along with the complete list of All-Conference and honorable mention recipients - next week.
IN THE POLLS
Bethel is the lone MIAC team ranked in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Track & Field Top 25 Rating Index, released on February 21. The Royals are No. 6 in the nation heading into the MIAC Championships.
All eleven MIAC teams rank among the top 28 in the North Region, led by Bethel at No. 6 in the latest regional rankings, released on February 20.
NATIONAL NOTABLES
Bethel's 4x400 relay team of senior Joel Smith (Shoreview, Minn. | Mounds View), first-year Grant Nelson (Minneapolis, Minn. | Providence Academy), senior Josh Sampson (Arden Hills, Minn. | Mounds View), and junior Jacob Parent (New Richmond, Wis.) ranks sixth in NCAA Division III with a time of 3:13.78 (2/4).
Bethel sophomore Jayson Ekiyor (Dayton, Minn. | Providence Academy) has the third-fastest 60 hurdle time in NCAA Division III this season at 8.09 (2/17).
Bethel first-year Landen Liu (Blaine, Minn. | Centennial) ranks second in NCAA Division III in the 200 meters (21.20 on 2/4) and seventh in the 60 meters (6.77 on 2/17) this season.
Bethel junior Jacob Parent (New Richmond, Wis.) ranks second in Division III with a 400-meter time of 47.55 (2/17). He clocked the 22nd-fastest 200-meter time in D-III this season at 21.72 (1/21).
Bethel senior Josh Sampson (Arden Hills, Minn. | Mounds View) ran the 60 hurdles in 8.17 (1/21), good for the 14th-fastest time in D-III this season.
Carleton first-year Gabe Nichols (Grove City, Penn.) ran the mile in 4:09.09 (1/27), good for the 25th-fastest time in D-III this season.
Hamline sophomore Josh Thomsen (North Oaks, Minn. | Mounds View) is tied for the 14th-fastest 60-hurdle time in Division III this season at 8.17 (1/21).
St. Olaf senior Logan Bocovich (Monument, Colo. | Palmer Ridge) clocked the 19th-fastest 5,000-meter time in Division III this season at 14:17.75 (12/3/22).
St. Olaf senior Lucas Kramarczuk (Bloomington, Minn. | Jefferson) ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.22 on 12/3, good for the 21st-fastest time in D-III this season.
St. Scholastica senior Samuel Eben Ebai (Yaounde, Cameroon | P.S.S. Mankon) ranks 16th in NCAA Division III this season with a 60-meter dash time of 6.84 (12/10).
DEFENDING THE CROWN
Four individual competitors will be back to defend their MIAC championships this season.
Bethel sophomore Jayson Ekiyor (Dayton, Minn. | Providence Academy) won the 55-meter hurdles at the 2022 MIAC Championships and will defend his title in the event again this year.
Concordia sophomore Anthony Marsh (Sauk Centre, Minn.) won the long jump competition at the 2022 MIAC Championships.
Saint John's junior Elijah Wade (Waco, Texas | Vanguard College Prep) is the defending champion in the triple jump event.
St. Scholastica senior Samuel Eben Ebai (Yaounde, Cameroon | P.S.S. Mankon) won the 55-meter dash and 200-meter dash competitions in his first MIAC championship meet last season and will compete again in the 60-meter and 200-meter races this year.
AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg first-year Mohammed Bati (Dodola, Ethiopia | GAP School) finished tenth in the 3000-meter run at the University of Minnesota's Snowshoe Open on 2/17, breaking the Auggies' indoor program record with a time of 8:39.40. Bati's time was more than two seconds faster than the previous mark of 8:42.07, set in 2014.
Bethel junior Jacob Parent (New Richmond, Wis.) took first place in the 400-meter dash at the UWL Indoor Eagle Open in a time of 48.30 on 2/17. That time currently leads the MIAC and ranks second nationally while also being the fastest flat track 400-meer time in program history.
Carleton first-year Gabe Nichols (Grove City, Penn.) won the 3000-meter run against D-I, D-II, and D-III competition at the Ted Nelson Classic on 2/4. His meet record time of 8:23.01 is tops in the MIAC and No. 5 all-time at Carleton. He enters his first MIAC Championship meet leading the conference in the 1K (2:30.83), mile (4:12.26), and 3K (8:23.01).
Concordia senior Wade Rhonemus (Foley, Minn.) registered a score of 4623 in the heptathlon at the Bison Open on 2/3. Rhonemus finished fourth at the meet and leads the MIAC in the even by a margin of 229 points this season.
Gustavus senior Josh Beiswanger (Mankato, Minn. | East) was the top Division III finisher in the weight throw at Minnesota State's Maverick Invitational on 2/17. Beiswanger reached 16.17 meters (53' 0.75"), just shy of his MIAC-leading mark in the event, scored a week earlier at 16.72 meters (54' 10.25").
Hamline junior Michael Braun (Rogers, Minn.) ranks among the top-10 in the conference in both the high and long jumps this season. Both of Braun's top marks came at the St. Thomas Invitational on 1/13 where he registered a distance of 1.92 meters (6' 3.5") in the high jump – good for second-best in the MIAC this season – and 6.47 meters (21' 2.75") in the long jump – the seventh-best leap in the conference this year.
Macalester sophomore Arlo Heitler (Hastings, N.Y.) won the 200-meter dash with an indoor personal best time of 22.35 at the Tostrud Classic on 2/18. The time broke Macalester's previous program record of 22.70 set in 2013.
Saint John's sophomore Zach Schaffer (Chaska, Minn.) placed fourth overall and first among NCAA Division III participants with a season- and MIAC-best mark of 6.88 meters (22' 7") in the long jump at MSU-Mankato's Maverick Invitational on 2/17.
Saint Mary's sophomore Chris Bulwa (Glenview, Ill. | New Trier) clocked in at 22.55 to place second in the 200-meter dash at the Maverick Invitational on 2/17. Bulwa finished the 400 meters in 50.80 at Minnesota State's Massive Meet #1 a week earlier. Both times rank among the top 10 in the MIAC this season.
St. Olaf junior Will Kelly (Golf, Ill. | Glenbrook South) bettered his own ninth-best time in program history in the 3,000-meter run by winning the event in 8:34.60 at the Tostrud Classic on 2/18. Kelly ranks fifth in the conference in both the 3K and 5K (14:56.04 on 2/10) heading into the conference meet.
St. Scholastica senior Samuel Eben Ebai (Yaounde, Cameroon | P.S.S. Mankon) brought home the 60-meter dash title on 2/18 at Tostrud Classic with a winning time of 6.98. He also claimed runner-up honors in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.47.
FOR THE RECORD
The MIAC Men's Indoor Track & Field Record Book contains annual Conference championship information and MIAC overall and meet record-holders. The information included in the record book is based on available data and research for additional historical documents is ongoing.