2009 MIAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships - Recap
David Pape, Carleton Sports Information
St. Thomas men defend MIAC track title
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The University of St. Thomas men successfully defended their team title by winning their 28th overall crown at the 2009 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Tommies won eight total events en route to recording 182.0 points. A total of 28 NCAA provisional qualifying standards were recorded at the two-day meet held at Carleton College’s Laird Stadium.
Saint John’s finished second with 125.0 points. Hamline University was third at 113.0 while Bethel University earned fourth place with 102.5 points. St. Olaf College rounds out the top five with 75.0 points. Host Carleton finished in ninth place with 44.0 points.
The most exciting race of the weekend may have been the championships’ final event as five teams posted NCAA provisional qualifying times in the 4x400 meter relay. Leading the way was St. Thomas’ quartet of Phil Bastron, James Ewer, Joe DeFrance, and Pat Jager, which broke the meet record with a time of 3:13.02. Gustavus (3:13.62) and Bethel (3:14.71) also bettered the old conference championship mark. St. Olaf (3:15.73) and Carleton (3:16.66) rounded out the top five in the tightly contested race.
The Tommies other relay win came in the 4x100 meter event where Chris Bradford, Same Moen, Bastron, and Joe Rohlfing posted a time of 42.10.
Ewer excelled in individual events as well, winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84 and the long jump with a NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 23-4. He also took first in the same events at the 2006 MIAC Championships.
DeFrance posted a time of 21.90 in the 200-meter sprint where he edged Jager (21.99)—the defending title-holder—and Ewer (22.00) as St. Thomas grabbed the top three spots.
Cole Carlson of Gustavus recorded a NCAA provisional time of 48.03 in winning the 400-meter race for the Gusties’ lone title of the championships.
Saint John’s got its only track title in the 4x800 meter relay as Andrew Stevens, Ruairi Moynihan, Tom Hoffman and Mitch Gesell combined for a winning time of 7:46.25.
The Johnnies added three field event crowns. Eric Buss dominated in winning his third straight triple jump, this time with a NCAA provisional distance of 48-2 1/2, exceeding his closest competitor by more than two-and-a-half feet. Griffin Hayes took top honors in the discuss throw (151-4). Senior Brayden Wagner cleared the bar set at 15-2 3/4 to win the pole vault. He also grabbed top honors at last week’s MIAC Decathlon where he was one of three competitors to exceed the NCAA provisional qualifying point total.
Bethel took home top honors in four events. Tyler Hinrichs held off a pair of Tommies to win the 1,500-meter run at 3:58.76. The Royals won another close race in the 110-meter hurdles as Taylor Ferda (14.48) edged Tyler Geyen of Gustavus (14.50) with both tallying NCAA provisional qualifying times. Sophomore Jay Quick was nimble as he cleared 6-6 1/4 to win his second straight high jump crown. Senior Carl Gladitsch notched Bethel’s other title in holding off Carleton’s John Davis to win the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:27.19.
Host Carleton saw its lone event title occur early on day two. Throwing in front of the home crowd, senior John Hanks did not disappoint with his winning javelin toss of 184-1 in his final attempt.
The Knights’ fans saw another strong performance by Tom Ballinger (53.16) in the 400-meter hurdles. He finished second to St. Thomas sophomore Matt Griswold (52.86) as both recorded NCAA provisional qualifying times.
The Tommies Brain Sames became a four-time champion in the 800-meter run with his provisonal qualifying time of 1:52.86, his best ever at the conference meet.
After winning the 1,500 last year, senior Brandon Gleason of Hamline University moved to a longer distance and prevailed in the 31-racer field for the 5,000 with a time of 15:00.34.
The top four finishers in the 10,000-meter run an exceeded the NCAA provisional standard. First to the line was St. Olaf junior Jacob Marotz at 30:44.86.
The top three finishers in the hammer throw, St. Thomas sophomore Andrew Brueggan (177-0) and Hamline’s Aaron Wilkerson (176-8) and Andy Norman (172-6), each posted NCAA provisional distances.
St. Olaf junior John Schantzen (54-9 1/4) and Hamline sophomore Derall King (53-3) recorded provisional marks in finishing 1-2 in the shot put.