MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet Preview
MIAC Championship Meet preview courtesy of Matt Higgins - MIAC Office
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- All eyes will turn toward St. Paul Friday and Saturday, as Macalester College will host the 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. St. Thomas returns as the three-time defending champion and a field full of talented student-athletes have anticipation sky-high for an outstanding two days.
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The Tommies completed their three-peat a season ago and lead the MIAC with a total of 32 conference outdoor championships. This year's host Macalester, ranks second in all-time titles with 22. Hamline has 14 titles and Saint John's - the last team not named St. Thomas to win the championship (2011) has 12 all-time championships. Since 1983, either UST or SJU has won the MIAC outdoor title each year.
St. Thomas' most recent title came courtesy of 172.5 points to win the 2014 title, with St. Olaf finishing a close second on hits home track a year ago with 159 points. The two also had a great duel at the 2015 MIAC Indoor Championships in March, with St. Thomas pulling away late for a 162-142 win over the Oles.
At the 2014 outdoor meet, Hamline scored 110 points to edge Saint John's (108) in an entertaining battle for third place. Gustavus was fifth with 66.5 points, just ahead of Bethel, which took sixth with 62 points. Carleton (57) held a five-point edge on Concordia (52) for seventh, and Augsburg (41.5), Macalester (28.5) and Saint Mary's (1) rounded out the rest of the standings.
The 2015 championships will have a familiar feel with 10 returning individual event champions back to try to defend their titles. St. Thomas has Brian Jarvey chasing this third-straight title in the 400-meter dash and Matt Schauer back in the shot put after winning those events last season, and St. Olaf will have a trio of returning winners back in the field. Grant will try for his third-straight title in the 5,000-meter run and teammates Phillip Meyer (10,000-meter run) and Jake Brown (3,000-meter steeplechase) will each try for two in a row in their respective events.
Saint John's Thomas Feichtinger will try for a third-straight championship in the 800-meter run. Hamline's Tom Larson is the returning champion in the 100-meter dash, and Concordia's Ben Vickstrom returns to try for two in a row in the 200-meter dash. There are also a pair of MIAC champion jumpers back in the mix, with Logan Hovie gunning for a third-straight high jump title and Augsburg's Barinedum Kordah trying to capture the long jump title for the second season in a row.
Beyond those returning champs, each team has athletes back with high hopes for success this weekend. Augsburg sprinter Undre Smith-Brewer and rookie pole vaulter Deontae Heuer both have high hopes for the Auggies. Bethel will be led by thrower Bryce DeBoer and sprinter Elisha Hinton. Carleton has a strong group of experienced runners led by Colby Seyferth and Hart Hornor.
Concordia's strength lies with its versatile athletes, including Jackson Schepp and Gabe Wright. Gustavus is counting on Sean O'Connell and Scott Williams for big performances. In addition to star sprinter Larson Hamline has strength in the field events with pole vaulter Mark Volker and thrower Chase Duwenhoegger. Host school Macalester is excited with Hovie back in the high jump and seniors Joe Giamberdino (distance) and Konnor Fleming (javelin).
In addition to Feichtinger, Saint John's is excited about a pair of sophomore jumpers, Joe Koll and Raymond Twumasi. Saint Mary's is strong in the distance events, led by Aaron Haley and Jovan Newsum. In addition to St. Olaf's returning champs (Wintheiser, Meyer and Brown), the Oles have Paul Escher back in the middle-distance races and Aaron Dunphy in the hurdles. The Tommies will try for their fourth-straight title behind the talents of Jarvey and Schauer, with Michael Witschen (jumps) and Dan Sauro (sprints) adding to St. Thomas' hopes.
The 2015 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin Friday with field events set to start at 2:30 p.m. and track to follow at 3 p.m. The meet will conclude Saturday, with field events beginning 2 p.m. and track to follow at 3 p.m. Saturday's final event begins at 6:40 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.
The MIAC has a home page dedicated to the 2015 Outdoor Championships, complete with venue and admission information, the event schedule, entries, heat sheets and links to follow the results live (Men - Women). Results, recaps, and multimedia coverage of the championships will be available throughout the event.
There will be live results available for all events courtesy of Apple Raceberry Jam, and Macalester will also team up with the Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network to offer a live video webcast of the meet as well.
Admission for the event is $7 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 Macalester College and their coaches and staff for their efforts to host the event.