Sports Editor- Liv White
The Gustavus Track & Field opened their outdoor season on March 28 at the CSB/SJU Optimistic Meet. The team was represented by a small group of throwers, hurdlers, jumpers, and runners. The Gusties faced windy conditions in Collegeville, Minnesota but were still able to place top five across multiple events.
On the men’s side, Senior Connor McCormick placed 3rd in the 400m hurdles, clocking a 57.89 to break his own personal best by seven seconds. Sophomore Landon Gilbertson followed, taking 4th place with a time of 59.49. Sophomore Kyle Flunker rounded out the men’s competition for the Gusties, taking 3rd in high jump by clearing 1.90 meters.
For the women, Sophomore Emily Podulke, First-Year Ava Loftness, and First-Year Sophia Vogel placed 2nd, 4th, and 5th in the 400m hurdles, respectively. Podulke with a time of 1:07.28, Loftness with 1:08.43, and Vogel getting a 1:09.38. Vogel had another podium finish in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.14.
Next Friday, April 3, the Gusties traveled to Decorah, Iowa, for the Luther College Norse Invite. Despite lightning in the area, field events were mostly completed, with the exception of the hammer throw, most of the women’s shot put, and men’s discus being halted. However, on the track, repeated lightning strikes within eight miles of the competition caused four delays and eventually ended the meet.
Regardless of the unfortunate weather conditions, those who were able to compete delivered strong performances, with many athletes ranking highly in the conference and nationally.
Senior Soren Sackreiter coming off of a successful cross country season said, “Even more than having a successful xc season I was really excited to stay healthy, injury and burnout has been a problem in the past. To carry that momentum into track has made it all the more fun to train and race hard while feeling strong mentally and physically.”
On the men’s side, Sackreiter and Sophomore Evan Pouliot placed second and third in the 10,000m with times of 33:21.73 and 33:42.47. Sackreiter was named MIAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week running a personal best. “My race last weekend was a good performance, I have to be happy with a 30 second personal best. That being said I was hoping to run under 33 minutes and it was a tough effort coming off a hard week of training, especially because of how few people were in the race. The good news is that it should be fast enough to get me into the MIAC conference meet where I’ll get my chance to run faster and have good competition,” he said.
Between lightning delays, eight Gusties were able to run the 1500m in which First-Year Finnegan Rodegeld led the group with a fourth place finish in 4:31.39.
On the field, Sophomore Alex Palmer and Senior Joe Ream went one and two in pole vault, clearing 4.15m and 4.00m respectively. Flunker placed first with a high jump of 1.95m, placing him first in the MIAC. Sophomore Liam Frommelt added another win for the Gusties with a long jump of 6.36m. Flunker followed closely with a jump of 6.28m. First-Year Logan Day rounded out the men’s strong day with a second-place finish in the javelin at 44.13m.
In the women’s competition, Senior Molly Liston and First-Year Anna Gould dominated the 10,000m placing first and second with times of 40:23.24 and 40:23.50, which ranked them third and fourth in the MIAC.
Moving to the field, Senior Maddox Lee opened with a third-place finish in the pole vault at 3.20m. Sophomore Kayla Kajer won the high jump clearing 1.60m, moving her to the top of the MIAC standings. First-Year Kaylee Hawks followed, getting a third place mark of 1.50m.
Loftness highlighted the day with a 11.53 triple jump, placing her fifth in Division III. First-Year Addi Bye placed 2nd in the triple jump with a score of 10.07m. Additionally, Junior Anna Lacy opened her season with a 3rd place finish in javelin with a throw of 35.48m, ranking 2nd in the MIAC.
Junior Olivia Duncan closed out the competition with a 42.84m throw in the discus earning her a 2nd place finish, ranking 1st in the conference and top-15 nationally.
“In the few weeks that are left of the season, I’m looking forward to the 5k that we will run under the lights at Macalester (4/24). That race always has great energy racing MIAC competition,” Sackreiter said.
The Gustavus Track and Field team competes next at the Gene Glader Classic hosted by Bethel University.