Women, Men sweep MIAC track titles

May 13, 2006




For complete meet results at Raceberryjam.com, with all competitors in all 22 events, click here, then click results, then access MIAC men or women:

see Raceberry jam site here


For complete meet results at Raceberryjam.com, with all competitors in all 22 events, click here, then click results, then access MIAC men or women:

see Raceberry jam site here

Host St. Thomas swept the men's and women's MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the fifth time in seven seasons. The two-day competition ended Saturday night at UST's O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

Led by the meet's lone three-event winner, freshman James Ewer (LJ, 100, 200), the Tommie men won 11 of 22 events and scored 203 points for a 42-point win. They claimed the school's 21st team crown in 24 seasons. Coach Steve Mathre's team received points from 20 different athletes, and UST scored in 16 of 22 events.

St. John's (161.3) and Gustavus (102.3) rounded out the top three. The Johnnies edged St. Thomas by just 7.5 points to win the 2005 event. SJU led 50-44 heading into Saturday's final 15 events but the Toms stormed ahead with points in the high jump and sprint races. The Tommie men survived disqualifications in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays that likely cost them 16-18 points.

Led by senior Molly Bauman, who had a hand in four firsts, the UST women scored 190 to cruise past runner-up Gustavus (115) and third-place Concordia (86). It was UST's 22nd team crown in the 25-year history of the women's event. Coach Joe Sweeney's team scored in 19 of 22 events with points from 20 different athletes. The Tommies had no victories in the 100 through 10,000 meters on the track but had 13 top-two finishes.

Men's Highlights
Ewer won three events -- the 100 (10.85), 200 (21.87) and long jump (22-7 3-4).

Junior P.J. Theisen won the triple jump and 400 hurdles, took second in the 110 hurdles and was fourth in the long jump for 33 individual points. Theisen's triple jump mark of 47-6 1-2 is an NCAA provisional qualifier and ranks him 10th nationally in Division III. It also is third best in school history behind Leonard Jones' MIAC record leap of 51-7 3-4 in 1993 and Steve Luzum's 48-8 recorded in 1990.

They scored 13 or more points in nine events:
--In the high jump, Mike Draxton, freshman Jonah Shermer and J.J. Kirby went 1-2-5 for 22 points.
--In the 400 meters, Kirby and freshman Pat Jager went 1-3 for 16 points;
--In the 100 meters, Ewer, freshman Joe DeFrance and Erich Loch went 1-2-7 for 20 points;
--In the 200 meters, Ewer, Jager and Kirby went 1-2-7 for 20 points;
--In the 800 meters, freshman Brian Sames and Joe Hoovestol went 1-2 to score 18 points;
--Theisen and freshman Zach Turner went 2-4 in the 110 hurdles for 13 points;
--Freshmen Matt Boumeester and Kyle Brandon went 2-4 in the 1,500 meters to score 13 points.
--In Friday's long jump, Ewer and Theisen went 1-4 to score 15 points;
--In Friday's pole vault, Matt Schroeder and Andy Dauer went 1-2 for 14 points. Schroeder hit an NCAA provisional height of 15-9 and won his second conference title of his career.

UST also got a Friday victory in the 4x800 relay from Greg Dowe, Sames, Hoovestol and Boumeester, and Saturday's win from Marks.

Other placewinners were Peter Rosholt, who took second in the hammer; Mark O'Connell, who took fifth in the shot put; and Lem Berry, who placed eighth in the decathlon.

Repeat MIAC champions on the men's side were Marks (discus), Pete Cathcart of St. Olaf (shot put) and Gustavus' Tanner Miest (110 hurdles).

Women's Highlights

Bauman had a hand in 46 points and four firsts. She swept the 100 and 400 hurdles, ran on the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relays, and also took third in the 100 meters.

Senior Kristal Grigsby won Friday's long jump for the third year in a row -- her 13th career conference title. In the biggest surprise of the meet, UST had a 1-2-3 sweep of Friday's hammer throw with Carol Comp, Michelle Binn and Shannon Kane. Comp was seeded eighth and Binn 14th, but the pair uncorked two impressive throws. Comp also placed fourth in the shot put.

The winning 4x100 team consisted of Christina Chapman, Grigsby, Kate Staat and Molly Bauman. The first-place 4x400 was comprised of Bauman, Chapman, Shionna Evans and Katie Theisen. UST also took eighth in the 4x800 relay with Evans, Nicki Hanson, Julie Anderson and Ronni Hamilton.

Other Tommie runner-up finishes came from Shara Guidry in the discus; Theisen in the 400 hurdles; Anne Iddins in a school-record time in the steeplechase; Jenny Olin in the 10,000; and Grigsby in the high jump. Olin also placed fifth in the 5,000. Theisen also took fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump.

Other Tommie placewinners were Erika Wetzel, third in the javelin; Christina Chapman, third in the 400 and fifth in the 200; Kalsey Larson, fourth in the 1,500; Chelsea Guettinger, fourth in the 5,000 and fifth in the 10,000; Selina Dehn, third in the triple jump and fifth in the high jump; Nikki Mammen, fourth in the high jump; and Jada Lewis, eighth in the high jump.

Three women's meet records fell -- Kourtney Joyce of Gustavus broke her own steeplechase record in 10:52.87; Gustavus' Lisa Brown threw 136-11 to win the javelin; and Concordia's Angie Pfeiffer won the 400 in 56.26.

Senior All-Americans Tonnisha Bell of Augsburg (100, 200 dashes) and Keidra Anderson of Hamline (5,000 and 10,000) each won two track races. Bell had swept those events in 2005. Other repeat winners were Grisgby (long jump), Bauman (400 hurdles), Anderson (5,000) and Joyce (steeplechase).