SJU track wins first-ever indoor conference title

The St. John’s track and field team won its first MIAC indoor team championship Feb. 26 in Northfield. The Johnnies won the meet by a wide margin. SJU led the 11-team field with 185 points followed by Concordia (139), St. Olaf (106), Bethel (91) and host Carleton (75). No other team cracked the 50-point margin.

The Johnnies also had 18 All-MIAC finishes (top three individuals in an event or the top relay team). The 18 All-MIAC performances destroyed the previous record of 10 en route to their first-ever indoor conference championship.

“The team performed above and beyond expectations,” head coach Jeremy Karger-Gatzow said. “The team had outstanding performances through all events.”

The meet started with improvements by heptathletes, followed by school-record-setting weight throws that set the tone for the rest of the meet, according to Karger-Gatzow.

The meet officially started on Thursday (Feb. 24) with the heptathlon, where junior Maguire Petersen held a 416-point thanks to wins in all four events held that day. Petersen took first in the 55-meter dash (6.63 seconds), the long jump (6.35 meters), shot put (13.48 meters) and high jump (2.09 meters).

The meet continued Friday and included two SJU wins, two program records and 102 total points. Petersen finished what he started the previous day and took first in the heptathlon with a school and conference meet record of 5,118 points.

The score also gives him the fourth best mark in Division III this season. Petersen was joined by teammates Logan Hennen and Max Lelwica who placed sixth and seventh, respectively.

The Johnnies other first place finish came in the distance medley relay where juniors Tom Nemanich, Jorge Hernandez, Nathan Clausing and Lloyd Young finished two seconds ahead of Carleton with a time of 10:25.88.

Senior Eli Mollet started the season by breaking the school record in weight throw with a throw of 17.71 meters but has since stagnated. Saturday proved to be a different story though.

Mollet broke his dry spell by breaking his previous weight throw record.

“I went through a span of rough meets where I was struggling to improve. I found my best throw on a big stage and broke my own record. That is something I am very proud of and something of an expectation: be the best each day and win each week with hard work.”

Mollet broke his own program record in the weight throw with a mark of 18.18 meters to earn All-MIAC honors and take home second. The distance marks the 11th best in Division III this year. Juniors Gavin Rupp (16.28 m) and Jaeden Frost (15.42 m) took fourth and eighth place.

Another All-MIAC honor was achieved by junior Kevin Arthur who took second place in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.49 seconds. SJU took three of the top four spots in the pole vault led by senior Shawn Schindler in second, sophomore Joe Charbonneau in third and junior Joe Stauffer in fourth.

Another All-MIAC performance came from junior Lloyd Young who placed second in the mile with a time of 4:15.33.

Junior Mitch Grand finished seventh while senior Dillon Diekmann followed in ninth.

First-year Alec Ungar came in second in the long jump with a mark of 6.70 meters, giving him his first All-MIAC honor while senior Michael Wallace came in fifth.

In the 800, sophomore Tommy Allen added to the SJU All-MIAC athletes by coming in third with a time of 1:56.45 while junior Alexei Hensel finished a second and a half behind for fifth.

The Johnnies added 83 points on Saturday to take home the championship, which included two more individual champions.

Petersen continued his weekend dominance by taking first in the high jump at 2.04 meters. Ungar came in third with a mark of 1.91 meters and senior Sam Rademacher lost a tiebreaker which put him in fourth.

Junior Elijah Wade leaped to a MIAC title in the triple jump with a mark of 14.05 meters. Wallace was right behind with a third-place finish and a jump of 13.78 meters.

Allen added to his All-MIAC total with a second-place finish in the 1,000 meters (2:29.96).

Hensel, who was a few seconds back, crossed the finish line in sixth (2:33.31).

Jack Young finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.73 seconds, just edging Arthur who came in fifth with a time of 22.76 seconds.

SJU’s Saturday relay teams took second in the four by 200 (1:30.54) and fourth in the four by 400 (3:27.03).

Other notable finishes included Frost who took fifth in the shot put (14.37 m) ahead of Mollet who took seventh (13.96 m). Grand finished in fifth place in the 3,000 meters (8:33.37) while senior Brady Labine took seventh in the 600 meters (1:25.07).

This year’s track and field team features some key performers.

“Our team this year is very well rounded—excelling in just about every event group. Whether it’s the jump crew, sprint crew, throw crew, multi crew or distance crew, I’m confident [in] how we stack up against other teams, and am excited to see how we compete outdoors,” Petersen said.

He thinks the hard work the squad has put in during the indoor season is indicative of a strong outdoor season on the horizon.

The Johnnies head to Waverly Iowa this Saturday as a tune up and last chance for athletes to qualify for the Dlll Indoor Championships.