Last Friday and Saturday, the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships took place and Gustavus was able to qualify two athletes for this elite event.

This meet is held in Boston, MA and showcases the top Division III talent in the nation, only accepting the top 20 performers in each individual event.

Senior Michael Hensch proved to be a strong asset for the Gusties this indoor season, and was able to qualify for the National Championships in both the shot put and weight throw.

Hensch placed third in both the shot put and weight throw in the Indoor MIAC Championships Feb. 23, was named Athlete of the Week, and received All-Region honors in both events as well.

Joining him on his trip to the east coast was Sophomore Taylor Rooney who also had an indoor season full of many accomplishments, including qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 60 meter hurdles.

This season, Rooney not only captured first at the MIAC Indoor Championships in  the 60 meter hurdles, but also set a new MIAC record in the event with a time of 8.14 seconds.

On top of this, Rooney placed first in the MIAC high jump event, was named MIAC Athlete of the Week, and received All-Region honors in both events.

Heading into the preliminaries, Hensch was seeded fifteenth in the shot put with a distance of 16.39 meters and sixteenth in the weight throw with a distance of 18.47 meters.

At the meet, he threw three times with a top distance of 15.85 meters, good for eleventh place in the event. He was only 0.61 meters away from advancing to the finals.

In the weight throw, Hensch had his top throw on his first attempt, soaring through the air for 18.288 meters. This got him into thirteenth place in the event.

Head Coach Dale Bahr was very impressed with his efforts throughout the season and is excited to see what the senior veteran can bring to the team as they move into the outdoor season.

“He always wants to perform his best and the fact he was not able to “pop” one today and make finals will make him expect more of himself outdoors,” Bahr said. “We are very proud of what Mike has done throughout his indoor career. Now the focus turns to the outdoor season where he has the opportunity to compete in four events.”

Rooney also was halted at the preliminary stage of this competitive meet, finishing in tenth place with a time of 8.228 seconds. The sophomore missed moving into the final by a mere 0.028 seconds.

“He had a good state of mind going into the race and we thought he would be able to make it to finals,” Bahr said. “Unfortunately, he did not have a very good start and played catch up the entire race. He made up a lot of ground over each hurdle but when you compete at this level, all parts of your race are exposed and when there is a flaw or mistake, it is tough to make it up. Since his race is only 60 meters long, he ran out of time.”

Although he came up just short of the finals, the sophomore proved he has what it takes to compete against some of the best hurdlers in the country and has two more years to leave his mark.

“Taylor is a competitor and has been putting in the work. I have no doubt this will motivate him to qualify for the outdoor nationals, which he was not able to do last season. He is a competitor and I am excited to see what he is going to do,” Bahr said.

The end of this meet officially marked the end of the indoor season and beginning of the outdoor season for the track and field teams.

The Gusties are scheduled to compete next at the Hamline Invite April 6, providing the track is clear of snow and is safe to run on.