The indoor track season concluded this past weekend at the MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in St. Paul, allowing fans to look ahead to the spring season that starts in early April. However, the ice and snow still cling to our frozen campus, forcing us to discuss the winter season for just a bit longer.

The Gustavus Men’s Track and Field team finished third at the conference meet with 75.5 total points, placing behind Hamline and MIAC champion St. Thomas.

Gustavus’s sprint group provided much of the team’s success over the weekend, highlighted by a record setting performance in the 4x200m relay. Senior Matt Leeb, Junior Matt Dvorak and First-years Blair Riegel and Jay Rogotzke secured a second place finish in the event, breaking the school record with a time of 1:30.03.

“Setting the school record in this event is very special,” Riegel said. “It was something that our sprint group talked about since the start of the season.”

The leadership and hunger of Riegel and other young team members became increasingly apparent over the course of the season, and the conference meet provided the platform for the youth to prove their worth.

“We had [first-years] like Blair who were ready to step up and score points in conference,” Dvorak said. “It was huge for the team that [the young guys] were scoring.”

Despite strong underclassmen, the balance of the meet rested on a senior-led relay group. Leeb won the individual 400m dash earlier in the day, and his speed, along with his seniority and captainship, would be entrusted with carrying the 4x400m relay team to a strong finish.

“Before the last event, we fell into fourth place,” Dvorak said. “[We] needed a big performance.”

The 4x400m relay proved to be Gustavus’s last scoring chance, and the captain and his crew provided what was needed to catapult Gustavus into a podium finish.
“It means a lot to me that in my final season, I was able to see the team finish so well in conference,” Leeb said.

This year represented the Gustie men’s best finish at the MIAC Indoors since 2003, building momentum for the outdoor season that is set to begin next month. “The indoor season is largely a gear-up for the outdoor season,” Leeb said. “I see our success indoors as a signal of promising things to come.”

The snow will eventually melt, but one thing that promises to come is rain. Impenetrable puddles will soon replace the ice and snow that we equally scorn. Gustavus’s first outdoor track meet is the Wartburg Select on April 2, but waders and umbrellas don’t come with the uniforms.

So one might think the Gustie trackers are dreaming of shorts and shades like everyone else on campus, but some relish the adverse weather that spring provides.

“I like competing in the changing weather,” Riegel said. “It can level the competition as everyone fights against the rain or wind. I enjoy running races in the rain.”
Personal preferences aside, the spring season will eventually bring heat, and hopefully not just climatically.

“If we continue to stay dedicated, we will be able to surprise a few people this spring with our performance,” Dvorak said.

Be prepared to watch Gustavus Men’s Track and Field heat our soggy campus this spring, but don’t forget your rain boots. Welcome to the rainy season.