2016 MIAC Indoor Meet Preview

MIAC Championship Meet preview courtesy of Matt Higgins - MIAC Office

NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- The 32nd Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., and its certain one of two things will happen. Either the University of St. Thomas will continue its perfect MIAC indoor streak with a 32nd-straight title, or another school will become the first non-Tommie team to hoist the trophy.

A year ago, St. Thomas received one of its toughest tests in the 31-year history of the event, as it led St. Olaf by only four points after Friday's events, and eventually added a little more cushion for a 20-point margin of victory. The Tommies scored 162 to win their 31st-straight title, while the Oles were close behind in second with 142 a year ago. St. Olaf and the other contenders hope to keep inching closer to UST to eventually knock the only indoor champ the conference has ever known off its perch. 

Hamline edged Carleton for third a year ago, 95 to 91.5, as both also hope to be in the mix again in 2016. Saint John's scored 61 to round out the top five, with Concordia (52) a step ahead of both Augsburg (46) and Bethel (44.5) for sixth. Gustavus (36) finished ninth, and Macalester (27) edged Saint Mary's (23) by four points for 10th place to round out the standings.

This year, St. Olaf enters the MIAC indoor meet with a No.7 national ranking from the USTFCCCA, but St. Thomas (No. 4) is one spot ahead of the Oles (No. 5) in the Central Region rankings. Hamline (No. 9), Augsburg (No. 10), Carleton (No. 11), Gustavus (No. 14) and Saint John's (No. 15) join that duo in the Central Region's Top 15, and all 11 teams rank in the top 25 in the region with Bethel at No. 19, Concordia 20th, Saint Mary's 21st and Macalester at No. 23.

The 2016 MIAC Championships feature some of the conference's brightest stars back in search of more glory. St. Thomas' Brian Jarvey - the 2015 MIAC Indoor Track Athlete-of-the-Year - returns in search of his third-straight titles in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Also, St. Olaf's Paul Escher returns in the mile after winning both MIAC and national championships in that race a year ago, and defending national 3,000-meter run champ Jake Campbell also returns for the Oles and Head Coach Phil Lundin, who was the MIAC Men's Indoor Coach-of-the-Year in 2015.

There are seven other student-athletes back with hopes of defending their MIAC titles, led by Augsburg sprinter Undre Smith-Brewer, who is going for his third-straight title in the 55/60-meter dash. Carleton's Jerry Cook-Gallardo won both the 800- and 1,000-meter runs as a freshman and has high hopes for more titles in 2016. Another St. Olaf runner, Kevin Skrip, hopes to defend his 600-meter run championship, and Macalester's Logan Hovie (high jump), Bethel's Bryce DeBoer (weight throw), Hamline's Chase Duwenhoegger (shot put) and St. Thomas' Evan Cross (triple jump) each hope to successfully defend their titles in the field events.

On the track, Hamline's Dylan Olson comes in with the top time in the 55-meter hurdles, Augsburg rookie Emmanuel Egbujor has the top time in the 200 and 400, and Gustavus' Paul Nordquist has the MIAC's best mark in the 5,000-meter run, with two-time champion Campbell no in the 5k field this year. In the field, a pair of Tommies - Matt Schauer (shot put) and Michael Witschen (long jump) - are each seeded first in their respective events. Hamline's Joe Matheson and Saint John's Maxwell Olson are tied atop the pole vault performance list. Concordia's Jackson Schepp has the conference's season-best score in the heptathlon, Gustavus' Sam Fischer is the top seed in the weight throw, and Saint Mary's Bryan Ortman has the MIAC's top mark in the triple jump. St. Thomas has the fastest times in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays, while St. Olaf enters seeded No. 1 in the distance medley relay.

There are also plenty of other athletes for fans to keep their eye on at the 2016 MIAC meet. Augsburg's Barinedum Kordah is back in search of more All-MIAC honors in the jumping and sprinting events. Bethel rookie Carl Klamm is a new face to watch in the middle distance events, and sophomore Phillip Anderson eyes a top-three finish in the hurdles. Carleton senior Hart Hornor will again be a major factor in the distance races, and Knights' jumpers Dwight Alexander and Pete Dehkes are expected to contend for titles in front of the home crowd. Concordia junior Nick Anderson is seeded in the top seven in two jumping events, and rookie David Supinski will lead the Cobber runners in the 400 and 600.

Gustavus will be a team to reckon with in the 5k with Nordquist seeded first and teammate Thomas Knobbe seeded third, with both going faster than 15:03 this season. Macalester has high hopes for Nolan Ebner in the middle distance events and Jack Schultenover in the sprints. Saint John's welcomes back national qualifier Thomas Feichtinger, who has two top-four times in the middle distance events, and rookie Max Martin could contend for the title in the hurdles. Saint Mary's has Morris Dennis back after winning the 400 outdoor title & qualifying for nationals a year ago, and rookie James Davis is ready to lead the Cardinals in the sprints in his first MIAC meet. 

The 2016 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships begin Thursday with the multi-event competitions. The women's pentathlon (Heat Sheet - Live Results) starts at 2 p.m. with the men's heptathlon (Heat Sheet - Live Results) beginning 15 minutes later. The heptathlon finishes up Friday morning at 10:30 a.m., with Friday's field events set to start at 4 p.m. and track to follow at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's final session starts with 11:45 a.m. field events and 1 p.m. track events.
 
Saturday's final event begins at 4:15 p.m., and there will be a short awards ceremony following the conclusion of the meet to honor both team champions. The top three individuals in each event and the first-place relay team will automatically earn All-Conference honors, and the 4th-through-6th place finishers in each open event and 2nd-through-6th place relay teams will all be named All-Conference Honorable Mention.

Admission for the event is $8 for adults and $3 for students per day, with children ages 5 and under admitted free. MIAC passes will be honored. The MIAC would like to thank Carleton College and their coaches and staff for their efforts to host the event.