Men's Track eyes top-5 finish at nationals

May 18, 2009

The St. Thomas men's track and field team will send 10 athletes in 10 events to next weekend's NCAA Division III Championships in Marietta, Ohio. The meet runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Coach Steve Mathre's team has a strong chance at a top-five team finish as it has the best times in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and have top-six seeds in six individual races.

Based on the seedings in each event, McMurry (Tex.), St. Thomas, UW-LaCrosse, UW-Oshkosh and Mississippi College appear to have the best scoring potential.

Besides the 4x100 and 4x400, UST will look for points from James Ewer in the long jump and 100; Andrew Brueggen in the hammer; Pat Jager in the 400; Brian Sames and Mike Hutton in the 800; Kyle Brandon in the 1,500; and Matt Griswold in the 400 hurdles.

St. Thomas placed fifth at nationals last season with three top-three individual finishes. The Tommies' best NCAA outdoor team finish was third, recorded in 1984, 1985, 1992 and 1993. UST also placed fourth in 1986 and 1991.

Click here for complete list of men's NCAA qualifiers and seeds:

http://www.raceberryjam.com/results/ncodmenentries.html

Click here for official meet website:

http://pioneers.marietta.edu/track/09championships/

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St. Thomas qualifiers (seed and bext time/mark listed):

100: 20. James Ewer 10.73

200: 14. Joe DeFrance 21.63

400: 4. Pat Jager 47.77

800: 5. Brian Sames 1:51.02; 14. Mike Hutton 1:51.62

1500: 2. Kyle Brandon 3:49.14

400 Hurdles: 6. Matt Griswold 52.86

4x100: 1. 40.75 DeFrance, Ewer, Jager, Sam Moen

4x400: 1. 3:13.02 Phil Bastron, DeFrance, Ewer, Jager

Long Jump: 6. Ewer 24-1

Hammer: 4. Andrew Brueggen 185-11