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
Three MIAC women’s track & field teams ranked among the top 20 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Track & Field Top 25 Rating Index, released on February 21. Gustavus is ranked No. 10 in the latest national poll, while Carleton is No. 16, and Saint Benedict is No. 18.
All 12 MIAC teams rank among the top 33 in the North Region, with four – Carleton (No. 4), Gustavus (No. 5), St. Olaf (No. 7), and Bethel (No. 10) – earning positions among the top 10 in the latest regional rankings, released on February 20.
NATIONAL NOTABLES
Bethel's 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Sarah Stellmach (Mahtomedi, Minn.), senior Kelsie Sealock (Plymouth, Minn. | Osseo), sophomore Hailey Gregg (Colorado Springs, Colo. | Air Academy), and senior Mikayla Turek (Orange City, Iowa | Unity Christian) ranks 11th in NCAA Division III this season with a time of 3:52.48 (2/17).
Bethel's 4x400-meter relay team of senior Kelsie Sealock (Plymouth, Minn. | Osseo), sophomore Grace Robinson (St. Louis Park, Minn. | Minnetonka), junior Annessa Ihde (Appleton, Wis. | North), and senior Mikayla Turek (Orange City, Iowa | Unity Christian) ranks 22nd in NCAA Division III this season with a time of 3:55.71 (2/4).
Bethel first-year Ellie Hernes (Fairmont, Minn.) ranks 16th in Division III for the triple jump this year at a distance of 11.68 meters (38’ 4”), marked on 2/4.
Bethel junior Annessa Ihde (Appleton, Wis. | North) ranks 24th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.75 (2/10).
Bethel senior Kelsie Sealock (Plymouth, Minn. | Osseo) recorded a 60 hurdle time of 8.53 (2/4), good for the third-fastest in D-III this season.
Carleton junior Helen Cross (Nederland, Colo.) ranks 21st in Division III in the 3,000-meter run this season with a time of 9:49.39 (2/11).
Carleton senior Clara Mayfield (Manhattan, Kan.) ranks fourth in the 5,000 meters (16:31.05 on 1/27), fourth in the 3,000 meters (9:32.00 on 2/10), and third in the mile (4:50.90 on 2/11) this season.
Carleton first-year Hannah Preisser (Chapel Hill, N.C. | Carrboro) has the 18th-fastest time in the 5,000 meters this season at 17:14.85 (1/27).
Carleton sophomore Nayeli Williams (Minneapolis, Minn. | Brooklyn Center) logged the fifth-best long jump in Division III this season at 5.69 meters (2/4).
Concordia junior Peyton Selle (Dickinson, N.D.) scored 3,094 points in the pentathlon on 2/3, good for the 24th-highest multi-event score in NCAA Division III this season.
Gustavus sophomore Megan Geraets (Mankato, Minn. | East) recorded a long jump of 5.54 meters (18’ 2.25”) on 2/17, good for the 22nd-best in Division III this season.
Gustavus junior Madi Kes (Jordan, Minn.) ranks 14th in D-III with a triple jump distance of 11.71 meters (38’ 5”) this season, marked on 2/17.
Gustavus senior Birgen Nelson (Edina, Minn.) set the NCAA Division III record in the 60-hurdles with a time of 8.35 (2/16) this season. She also clocked the eighth-fastest 60-meter time at 7.66 (1/28), eleventh-fastest 200-meter time at 24.83 (12/9), and the 24th-fastest 400-meter time at 57.42 (2/11). She has been named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week twice this season.
Gustavus senior Annika Poe (Big Lake, Minn.) ranks third in Division III this season with a shot put distance of 14.55 meters (47’ 9”), marked on 2/17.
Macalester senior Journey Amundson () ranks 12th in the triple jump this season with a leap of 11.78 meters (38’ 7.75”), recorded on 2/18.
Saint Benedict junior Fiona Smith (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) leads NCAA Division III in three events this season. She clocked the fastest 5K time in NCAA Division III this season at 16:28.97 (1/27). Her mile time of 4:50.01 (2/4) also leads Division III, as does her 3K time of 9:23.31 (2/10).
St. Olaf senior Christine Albrecht (San Jose, Calif. | Valley Christian) ran the 21st-fastest 800-meter time in NCAA Division III this season at 2:14.38 (2/4). Her mile time of 4:55.83 (1/21) ranks 11th in the country.
St. Olaf sophomore Alison Bode (Minneapolis, Minn. | Southwest) turned in the 16th-fastest 5K time in D-III this season at 17:10.20 (1/27).
St. Olaf sophomore Sofia Carlson (Boise, Idaho) ranks eighth in the 5,000 meters this season at 16:58.15 (1/27).
DEFENDING THE CROWN
Eight individual competitors will be back to defend their MIAC championships this season.
Bethel senior Kelsie Sealock (Plymouth, Minn. | Osseo) won the 55-meter hurdles in 2022 and the 60-meter hurdles in 2020. Sealock will be back in the 60-meter event this weekend.
Carleton senior runner Clara Mayfield (Manhattan, Kan.) is the defending champion in the mile run. Mayfield also previously won both the 3K and 5K events in 2020.
Concordia junior Peyton Selle (Dickinson, N.D.) won the indoor pentathlon in 2022.
Gustavus junior Madi Kes (Jordan, Minn.) was the 2022 indoor champion in the triple jump.
Gustavus senior Birgen Nelson (Edina, Minn.) claimed top honors in the 200-meter dash last season.
Gustavus senior Annika Poe (Big Lake, Minn.) won the MIAC championship in the shot put in 2022.
Hamline senior Alexandra Maddux (Moorhead, Minn.) is the defending conference champion in the 800-meter run.
Saint Benedict junior Fiona Smith (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) took home top honors in both the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs last season.
AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg first-year Allison Hookom (Andover, Minn. | Anoka) set a new personal record and clocked the fifth-fastest 200-meter dash time in program history at the Showshoe Open on 2/17. Hookom finished sixth overall with a time of 26.46 in the event.
Bethel senior Kelsie Sealock (Plymouth, Minn. | Osseo) won the 60-meter hurdles at the UW-La Crosse Eagle Open on 2/17. Sealock crossed the finish line in 8.61. Her fastest time this season – 8.53 at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational on 2/4 – ranks third in the country and is .02 shy of second-fastest.
Carleton senior runner Clara Mayfield (Manhattan, Kan.) posted a pair of national top-4 times while competing in two meets on 2/10-11. Mayfield placed fourth overall and fourth in NCAA Division III this season in the 3,000-meter run with an adjusted time of 9:32.00 at the Minnesota State University Massive Meet #1 on 2/10. She followed that up with a victory in the mile run at the Meet of the Hearts, where her adjusted time of 4:50.90 also ranks No. 3 in D-III this year and was good for more than an eight-second margin of victory.
Concordia junior Peyton Selle (Dickinson, N.D.) placed ninth overall in the pentathlon at the Bison Open on 2/3. Selle's score of 3094 ranks 24th in NCAA Division III this season and is the top mark in the MIAC.
Gustavus senior Birgen Nelson (Edina, Minn.) competed at the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. over the weekend and broke yet another NCAA Division III record. Nelson improved her 60-hurdles time to 8.33 in the semifinals for fourth-best in her heat, qualifying her for the finals. Nelson then ran an 8.42 in the finals, taking sixth in the nation. Nelson has now run the top-5 fastest 60-hurdles times in NCAA D-III history.
Hamline Alexandra Maddux (Moorhead, Minn.) ran to a school record in the 600 meters at the St. Olaf Tostrud Classic on 2/18. Her time of 1:35.92 is a program best and ranks first in the MIAC this season.
Macalester senior Journey Amundson (Iron River, Wis. | Northwestern) won the triple jump at the Tostrud Classic on 2/18 with a mark of 11.78m (38' 7.75"). The mark is a personal best and currently ranks 12th in NCAA Division III this season. It also broke Macalester's school record of 11.68m (38' 4"), set in 2007.
Saint Benedict junior Fiona Smith (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) clocked a 4:52.88 to win the mile run and break her program record mark of 4:55.30 at the Gopher Classic on 2/4. Her mile time converted to 4:50.01 and is the top mark in NCAA Division III. Smith now has the top mile and 5K (16:28.97) along with the third-best 3K (9:40.53) in D-III this season.
St. Catherine junior Chando Horvath (Stevens Point, Wis.) led the way with two first place finishes in the shot put and the weight throw. Horvath threw a PR mark of 14.45m in the weight throw ranking her third all-time for the Wildcats. In the shot put, Horvath recorded a mark of 10.82m throwing the top mark of the meet.
Saint Mary’s junior Caroline Gearin (Osceola, Wis.) led the way for Cardinals at the Maverick Invitational on 2/17, placing second in the pole vault by clearing a career-best 3.44 meters (11’ 3.5”). The mark was just shy of the school record of 3.45 meters, set in 2018.
St. Olaf senior Rebekah Salfer (Racine, Wis. | Shoreland Lutheran) broke the program record in the 60-meter hurdles at the Tostrud Classic on 2/18. Salfer crossed the finish line in 9.12 – two seconds fast than her previous personal best and 0.11 seconds faster than the previous program record set in 2004 and matched in 2014.
St. Scholastica senior Ellie Sholing (Wabasha, Minn. | Wabasha-Kellogg) clocked a personal-best time of 2:23.24 in the 800 meters at St. Olaf’s Tostrud Classic on 2/18. It is the seventh-best 800-meter time in program history. She also anchored the Saints’ runner-up 4x400 team that finished in 4:16.62.
FOR THE RECORD
The MIAC Women'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.