Bennies and Johnnies place second

This past weekend marked the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Track and Field Championship at St. Olaf ’s Tostrud Center.

Athletes from both the CSB+SJU track teams competed against the likes of Bethel, St. Scholastica, St. Olaf, Gustavus and other schools from the MIAC.

The Bennies finished with 120 points and earned second place with five individual championships. They finished behind Bethel University (158) and in front of Gustavus (109.5).

The Johnnies also took second place with five individual championships and recorded 143 points. The Johnnies finished behind Bethel University (164) and in front of St. Olaf (107). CSB sophomore transfer

Jaylyn Ahlberg, an exercise health science major, finished in first place in the pole vault (3.76M – 12-4-00) and is only the Bennie in program history to record a pole vault over 12 feet. This is her first individual MIAC title, and Ahlberg is the first CSB pole vault champion since 2017.

“I feel like the indoor conference is just a different atmosphere. At any conference meet, it is truly where the team comes together,” Ahlberg said. “No matter who is competing or not competing, we all are cheering everyone on. Everyone is truly wanting everyone to perform their best, and once conference meet comes, you are truly ready; this is what we have been training for all pre-season. . . This makes the environment nothing like it.”

CSB head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue said she and the coaching staff are happy with the student performances.

“A lot of times, if you do a little bit of the math beforehand, you can kind of picture where teams are going to place and how many points they could possibly score. We projected that five teams could potentially score over 100 points. We had a goal as a group to go for the school record, and if we do that, we could finish as high as second. We had so many people with personal bests, school records and meet records, and 10 athletes finished All Conference. Our staff couldn’t be prouder,” Balder-Lanoue said.

SJU senior Jaeden Frost collected his second All-MIAC honor of the meet, finishing third in distance shot put. Frost posted a distance of 15.16 meters, which was his sixth All-MIAC distinction and third indoors.

“As an individual, I did very well. I had PR performances in both shot put and weight throw. I also was able to make podium in both, so I was very happy with that. As a group of throwers, I’m really proud of how we did. We all threw really well. We had a bunch of season bests and PR’s, which helped get a couple more points in the throwing events,” Frost said.

With the outdoor season starting on Friday, Frost and many other Johnnies and Bennies are feeling a strong sense of momentum and excitement. Frost, who suffered an injury last year, is looking forward to a healthy season this year.

“I didn’t have much of an outdoor season last year due to injury, so I’m excited to be back and have a full season this year. Also, the weather really made it difficult to go to meets last year, and this year looks to be the opposite. I plan on enjoying the season with my teammates and [will] hopefully throw far,” Frost said.

The Johnnies plan to participate at the Wisconsin Lacrosse Qualifier on Saturday at 1 p.m., while the Bennies are scheduled to compete at the Waverly Qualifier on Friday at 1 p.m.