ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships got off to a competitive start Friday at Macalester College in St. Paul. Top finishes from several institutions kept things close after day one action but Hamline men and Concordia women remained above the rest.
On the men's side, Hamline secured a first place finish after day one scoring 55.5 points. Concordia placed closely behind with 54. St. Thomas scored 40.5 points just ahead of Carleton who earned 40 and St. Olaf with 28. Gustavus finished sixth after day one scoring 24 points slightly ahead of Saint John's with 19 and Bethel and Augsburg that tied with 14 points scored. Saint Mary's secured 13 points and Macalester rounded out the group with 10 on the first day of competition.
For the women, Concordia finished ahead of the rest with 59 points scored. Carleton, in second place, scored 39 and Saint Benedict earned 27 points. Closely behind, St. Thomas finished fourth after day one with 22 points, St. Olaf with 19 and Bethel and Gustavus tied for sixth with 18 points scored. Hamline and St. Catherine ended the day tied at 14 and Macalester earned 4 points overall. Augsburg and Saint Mary's did not score.
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Hamline men started off the day strong with first place finishes by Mark Volker in the pole vault with a height of 4.58m and Anthony Tyler in discus throw with a distance of 50.90m. St. Olaf's Phillip Meyer won the 10000 meter run with a time of 30:34.15 defending his previous title in this race. Carleton's Ben Withbroe, Joe Haase, Noah Laack-Veeder, Donson Cook-Gallardo edged out the competition with a first place finish in the 4x800 meter relay in 7:45.04. In the hammer throw, Saint Mary's Tyler Kircher took the crown with a distance of 50.83m. Brandon Zylstra from Concordia placed first in the long jump with a 6.84m distance. Macalester's two-time defending champion Logan Hovie won a third title in the high jump with a height of 2.10m.
Concordia women were led by victories from Rochelle Hickerson in the long jump with a distance of 5.45m and Cherae Reeves in the shot put throwing 14.18m. Reeves defended her MIAC title and also won the national title in shot put at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this year. In the 10000 meter run, Bethel's Mollie Gillberg finished first with a time of 37:16.08. Saint Benedict's Olivia Dengel, Manon Gammon Deering, Jenna O'Donnell and Allison Kosobud placed first in the 4x800 meter relay finishing in 9:18.91. In the javelin throw, St. Catherine's Alyssa Besch finished above the rest with a distance of 41.17m.
Day one consisted primarily of field event finals and preliminary sprints, runs and relays. Top finishers in the prelims for the men include Bethel's Charles Johnson, Elisha Hinton, Patrick Klamm and Jacob Harle (4x100) in 42.74 and Elisha Hinton (200 meter dash) in 22.41, St. Olaf's Jake Campbell (1500 meter run) in 4:01.96, St. Thomas' Connor Gross (110 meter hurdles) in 15.65, Brian Jarvey (400 meter dash) in 48.30 and Dan Kremer (400 meter hurdles) in 56.13, Hamline's Tom Larson (100 meter dash) in 11.12 and Isaac Krause (800 meter run ) in 1:54.45.
Top prelim finishers for the women include Macalester's Emily Diener, Erin Ortiz, Anik Regan, Hannah Sonsalla (4x100) in 48.68, Carleton's Colette Celichowski (1500 meter run) in 4:46.65, Hamline's Carolyn Saulsberry (100 meter hurdles) in 14.98, St. Thomas' Angela Tipp (400 meter dash) in 57.10, St. Catherine's Shakeela Wells-Johnson (100 meter dash) in 12.60, Bethel's Erin Alpers (800 Meter Run) in 2:15.12, St. Olaf's Dani Larson (400 meter hurdles) in 1:04.16 and Concordia's Hannah Lundstrom (200 meter dash) in 25.37. Finals in these events will take place on Saturday.
The 2015 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships conclude Saturday, with field events beginning 2 p.m. and track to follow at 3 p.m. Saturday's final event begins at 6:40 p.m., and there will be a short awards ceremony following the conclusion of the meet to honor both team champions.
The top three individuals in each event and the first-place relay team will automatically earn All-Conference honors, and the 4th-through-6th place finishers in each open event and 2nd-through-6th place relay teams will all be named All-Conference Honorable Mention.
The MIAC has a home page dedicated to the 2015 Outdoor Championships, complete with venue and admission information, the event schedule, entries, heat sheets and links to follow the results live. Results, recaps, and multimedia coverage of the championships will be available throughout the event.
There will be live results available for all events courtesy of Apple Raceberry Jam, and Macalester will also team up with the Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network to offer a live video webcast of the meet as well. Fans can connect to the conference throughout the meet on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube using the hashtag #MIACOTF.
Admission for the event is $7 for adults and $3 for students per day, with children ages 5 and under admitted free. MIAC passes will be honored. The MIAC would like to thank Macalester College and their coaches and staff for their efforts to host the event.