Petersen takes down heptathlon record
On Friday, Feb. 4., junior multi-athlete Maguire Petersen placed second while competing at NDSU against opponents from across all NCAA Divisions. Petersen broke the SJU
On Friday, Feb. 4., junior multi-athlete Maguire Petersen placed second while competing at NDSU against opponents from across all NCAA Divisions. Petersen broke the SJU heptathlon record at the meet, which stood for nearly fourteen years and was set by Mike Leither in 2008. He bettered the previous record by 115 points.
“This was Maguire’s first time doing a heptathlon. There was no indoor conference or national meet last year, and in 2020 he had not decided to do the multi-event yet…his performance at NDSU ranks him first in the MIAC,” assistant track and field coach Joe Vardas said.
He was, however, the MIAC champion in the decathlon in 2021.
Petersen began competing in the multi-events last spring, after completing his first decathlon in April of the 2021 outdoor season.
In men’s track and field, multi-athletes compete in heptathlons during the indoor season, which are comprised of seven events, and then decathlons in the outdoor season, Vardas said.
“The meet at NDSU helped build my confidence by finally getting a heptathlon under my belt… Overall, I feel happy, but not satisfied, with my performance at NDSU. It’s rewarding to see that the many months of training and conditioning are starting to pay off,” Petersen said.
Petersen and Vardas both noted that although he is proficient in jumps and sprints, he still has a lot of untapped potential in the longer distances and more technical event areas, like pole vault and hurdles.
“This period of time before the conference and national meet will allow me to really hone in on my weaker events, in hope of shifting them into a strength,” Petersen said.
The MIAC conference heptathlon is set to be competitive, as Petersen is ranked just four points ahead of St. Olaf ’s Stephen Peper, who he defeated in the 2021 decathlon.
Both athletes are ranked in the top ten of Division III, and the top 20 qualify for the national meet.
Petersen and the SJU and CSB track teams will be back in action this weekend on Saturday, Feb. 12 at the SJU McNeely Spectrum.
