The Men’s Outdoor Track and Field team has been having an exciting season. This year’s team has started off much better than last year. “[We are] a much better rounded team, probably because we have so many seniors this year compared to last year. We halved our place at indoor Conference in one year from eighth to fourth,” Senior sprinter Cole Carlson said.
The Gustie men won their last meet at the Carleton Relays. There were a number of first place finishes that helped lead the Gusties to victory.
Carlson won the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.66 seconds and took second in the 400-meter dash with at time of 49.36 seconds. Senior mid-distance runner Max Hanson placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.12 seconds. Sophomore distance runner Anders Bowman won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:13.80.
Both the 4×100 and the 4×400 relay teams took first place with times of 43.63 and 2:26:48, respectively. Junior jumper Jake Peymann won the high jump with a height of 6’0” and took second in the long jump at 19’ 9.50”. Senior Colin Rust won the trip jump with a mark of 40’ 8.75”.
“[Our goals are to] maintain our fourth-place finish from Indoor Conference to Outdoor Conference and enter at least one person in each event at Conference,” Carlson said.
“Our middle distance events are much stronger, largely due to improvements of Max Hansen, but also due to improvements in Carson Smith’s and my own performances,” Senior distance runner John Kennedy said.
The Drake Relays are a highly competitive meet that will be a true test prior to the Conference meet. The men’s 4×400 relay team qualified for the meet. “I think our 4x400m relay will drop several seconds off their relay time. Meets like that seem to bring the best out of athletes,” Kennedy said.
“We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us yet—as a team, a fourth place finish at Indoor Conference put a somewhat large bull’s eye on our back. We’re going to put it all together on May 14-15,” Carlson said.
The Women’s Outdoor Track and Field season is also underway. “So far the season has gone really well. We have had unusually nice weather and everyone has performed at their best,” Senior distance runner Vanessa Jones said.
While the Men’s team competed at the Carleton Relays, the Women were in Northfield at the Manitou Classic. While no team scores were kept at the meet, individual scores were recorded.
Junior thrower Samantha Broderius won the shot put with a distance of 41’ 4.25” and took third in the discus with a distance of 133’ 6”. Junior Jumper Janey Helland won the long jump with a distance of 17’ 9.75” and took third in the high jump, clearing 5’ 1”.
Other top performances include Sophomore distance runner Kim Rostvold who took third in the 3000-meter and Junior distance runner Brook Beskau finished third in the 10,000-meter run. The Gustie women also had a third place finish in the 4×800 meter relay.
“[Our goals are to] compete well, [have] positive attitudes [and] place high in meets,” First-year jumper and sprinter Kelsey Jensen said.
“This [year’s] team is very similar and probably even stronger than last year’s team. We do have a few new people stepping up to replace last year’s seniors,” Jones said.
Both the Men’s and Women’s teams will compete at the Drake Relays this weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.