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St. Olaf Mens Track and Field Second in MIAC Championships

Mark Bresnan
May 14, 2001

The St. Olaf men's track team punctuated an outstanding season with a runner-up finish at the MIAC outdoor championships last weekend. The Oles traveled across the river to Carleton's Laird Stadium hoping to repeat and possibly improve on their second-place finish at the indoor meet. Though they were able to up their indoor point total to an outstanding 134, St. Thomas's depth in the sprints and the hurdles proved decisive as they garnered 184 points.

Staked to an early lead by a 1-6 finish in the decathlon, the Oles slipped into a tie for second after Friday's events, despite several outstanding field event performances. Corey Dingels (Jr., Gibbon, Minn.) exploded in the long jump, winning with a leap of 7.17 meters (23'6.25") that currently ranks 13th in the nation. Decathlon champion Jon Berg (Sr., Armstrong, Minn.) began a busy and successful weekend by snaring the fifth spot, jumping 6.75 meters. Marcus Hanson (So., Billings, Mont.) threw the discus 147'7" to take fifth in an outstanding field. Andrew Spottiswoode (So., Mounds View, Minn.), injured for much of the indoor season, cleared a personal-best 13'10" in the pole vault to take fifth, followed by teammate John Gensmer (So., Mounds View, Minn.) in seventh.

Friday's track events were mostly preliminaries, but the 4X800 meter relay final capped off the day's competition. The St. Olaf quartet of Andrew Cole (Jr., Mankato, Minn.), Jeff Boerner (Jr., Rockford, Minn.), Mark Sullivan (So., West Bend, Wis.) and Mark Bresnan (Sr., Indianola, Iowa) battled back from earlier races to take second place in a quick 7:47.23.

With Gustavus, Concordia, and St. John's bearing down on the Oles for the runner-up spot, the black and gold needed a strong start to Saturday's session. The javelin crew provided just that, finishing 4-5-6. Junior Pete Sommers and sophomore Neal Olsen (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) uncorked huge throws, bettering their previous marks by twenty feet. Berg snared the fourth spot, fresh from a fifth place leap in the high jump, where Dingels cleared 6'7" to finish second. Hanson took second in the shot put, with a heave of 51'3" that ranks in the nation's top twenty.

St. Olaf's 4X100 meter relay squad kicked off the day's track events, taking fifth in a tough field. The quartet of Ryan Noreen (So., Bloomington, Minn.), Dingels, Matt Johnson (So., Richfield, Minn.), and junior David Olson streaked a season-best time of 42.81. Chris Coffey (So., Chapel, Neb) snared a suprising fourth in the steeplechase, clocking in at 9:44. Rob Hillard (So., Columbia, Mo.) hung on to a swift pack in the 1500, taking sixth.

Though the Oles knew they would need big scores in the 400, the 800, and the 5,000, they still managed to surpass expectations. Noreen cruised to second in the 400 in 48.92 and teammate Gaute Johnsen (So., Akershus, Norway) took eighth. Bresnan posted the nation's fourth-best time while winning the 800 in 1:51.87, while Cole snared the fifth spot. First-year Peder Arneson (Montevideo, Minn.) made an auspicious MIAC debut, taking second place in a grueling 5K at 15:13. Sullivan finished seventh in a fine time of 15:32. Noreen continued a taxing weekend, grabbing sixth in the 200-meter dash at 22.55.

With second place wrapped up, the Oles started the day's final event with hopes of a provisional qualifying time in the 4X400 meter relay. The quartet came up just short, as Noreen, Dingels, Jon Pearce (Sr. Lawrence, Kan.) and Bresnan posted a 3:17.97 to take second.

The 4X400 squad and a few other St. Olaf athletes will compete in NCAA qualifiers at St. Thomas and UW-LaCrosse this week. Berg has already automatically qualified in the decathlon for the NCAA championships to be held May 24-26 at Milliken University in Decatur, IL, and Dingels and Bresnan are currently ranked high enough to compete.

Contact Pat Buresh at 507-786-3315 or buresh@stolaf.edu.