Bennies record all-MIAC finishes at conference championship

The St. Ben’s track and field team took fifth place at the MIAC conference last week to finish up their indoor season.

Senior Stephanie Pickthorn and first-year Justus Floren scored big in the pentathlon the first day of the meet.

Floren finished second with Pickthorn right behind her in third.

Floren ended with 3,064 points, beating her previous best by 200 points and moving her into seventh best in Bennie history. It was also a top-20 pentathlon score in DIII.

Pickthorn took home third with 2,936 points. Pickthorn and Floren were graced with All-MIAC honors for their top-three finishes.

“My thought process through the pent[athlon] was to do well for my team. I felt sick all that week, and toward the end it was a mental battle.” Pickthorn said.

Pickthorn had sprained her ankle during high jump, the second event, and still finished with a four second personal best in the fifth and final event of the night, the 800-meter run.

Floren earned third place in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.92 seconds, tied for the ninth best in the CSB program history.

Floren’s first win of the day was in high jump where she earned her career-best with 1.56 meters.

Her second win of the day was in the long jump, where she just barely missed her personal best but still managed to earn a first-place finish with a jump of 4.95 meters, just two centimeters in front of second place.

After a great start Thursday, things were looking good for the Bennies Friday with their first full day of the conference meet.

Sophomore Fiona Smith achieved her second MIAC title this school year with a win in the 5k.

“I ran the 5k on Friday, and going into the race, my goal was to conserve as much energy for my other races as possible while still finishing in a good spot,” Smith said, “That strategy worked out well as I was happy with where I finished, and I still felt good after that race looking ahead to my next two.”

Earlier this year, Smith won the MIAC cross country title and she has added her second title on Friday.

She placed first in 17:20.20, 20 seconds in front of the second-place runner. Smith’s performance helped CSB earn their second place standing at the end of Friday, just eight points behind Bethel.

The Bennies earned All-MIAC accolades in three other events.

Senior Maggie Beckmann finished All-MIAC in the women’s weight throw with a third place finishing mark of 16.06 meters. Beckmann had previously broken the school weight throw record at the Bennies last home meet on Feb. 12.

Staying low, staying calm and being patient were the three things going through Beckmann’s head as she was competing.

“Finally,” Beckmann said as her winning mark landed on the infield.

Her last throw in her preliminary flight was the throw that put her in third place to score six points for the team.

After two days at the MIAC indoor track and field championships, CSB track and field ended with a MIAC record and three more times or marks in the top 10 in program on history Saturday.

The Bennies finished in fifth place out of 13 teams in Northfield, scoring 94 points, just 10.5 behind St. Olaf.

“We had many [athletes] finish higher than they were seeded and we finished with 94 points, the sixth-most in CSB history. We are looking forward to outdoors where we will be even stronger.” head coach Balder-Lanoue said.

Smith won her third MIAC title of the year Saturday as she beat Carleton’s Clara Mayfield by two seconds in the 3,000-meter run. Smith’s time of 9:34.60 broke a multipe records— her personal best, school record and the MIAC record which has held its ground since 1987. She broke the record by 12 seconds.

Many other Bennies received All-MIAC honorable mentions as the day went on. The CSB track and field team wrapped up the indoor season for most of the Bennies. Smith will advance to Division III indoor National Championships in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs.