St. Paul, Minn. -- The 2008 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships came to a close on Saturday evening with the St. Thomas women capturing the team title. This week, individual awards were announced and the honorees are listed below.
As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC selected the second annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for Women's Indoor Track & Field. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition.
Outstanding Women's Track Athlete - Nikki Arola, St. Thomas
- Arola (So., Chisholm, Minn.) had a hand in five victories to lead St. Thomas. Arola won Saturday's 200 after sweeping the 55 and 400 on Friday. She anchored the 4x400 to an improved NCAA provisional time of 3:57.61 and led off the winning 800 relay (1:45.99). On Friday, Arola won the 55 meter dash in a photo finish at 7.41 over Augsburg's Whitney Holman (same time), then won the 400 in 58.41, a time that improved her NCAA provisional qualifying standing.
Outstanding Women's Field Athlete - Carol Comp, St. Thomas
- Comp (Sr., Edina, Minn.) swept the throwing events as she won Saturday's shot put (42-2) and Friday's weight throw (52-5 1-4). Both throws met NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
Women's Outstanding Performance of the Meet - Marie Borner, Bethel
- Borner (So., Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) smashed the conference record in the mile run by nearly 11 seconds, and broke the McNeely Spectrum record by more than 18 seconds. In doing so, she met the NCAA provisional mark and earned an automatic NCAA championship meet bid.
Women's Coach of the Year - Joe Sweeney, St. Thomas
- Sweeney's Tommies claimed the program's ninth consecutive MIAC indoor team championship and set records for points scored (233) and margin of victory (134.5). It was Sweeney's 59th MIAC team title of a possible 77 in cross country, indoor and outdoor track. The Tommies had 12 firsts and scored in all 18 events they entered. The Toms' 10 individual wins was in contrast to the 2007 meet in which they used depth to win the team title with only one individual champion.
2008 All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team
Augsburg - Emilee Traxler (Fy., Le Center, Minn.)
Bethel - Michaela Otto (So., Woodbury, Minn.)
Carleton - Irene Koplinka-Loehr (So., Ithaca, N.Y.)
Concordia - Ali Parsons (Sr., Baxter, Minn.)
Gustavus - Kaelene Lundstrom (So., Bird Island, Minn.)
Hamline - Katie Drinane (Jr., Roseville, Minn.)
Macalester - Maddie Mette (So., Burnsville, Minn.)
Saint Benedict - Kristin Haubrich (Sr., Shakopee, Minn.)
St. Catherine - Amanda Manship (So., Cottage Grove, Minn.)
Saint Mary's - Teri Heinzen (So., Marshfield, Wis.)
St. Olaf - Lindsey Saunders (Sr., Willmar, Minn.)
St. Thomas - Kate Staat (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.)