Ole men fourth at MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships

Kaitie Eke
March 7, 2009

MOORHEAD, Minn. - The St. Olaf men's track and field team was fourth at the MIAC's Indoor Championships on Saturday at Concordia College-Moorhead.

The Oles had two event wins in the conference championships. The Distance Medley Relay team, consisting of David Green, Isaac Tut, Brian Burseth, and Ben Wilson, took the title with a time of 10:36.17. John Schantzen, a junior, won the shot put, and qualified provisionally for NCAA Nationals, with a distance of 15.65 meters.

A top performer for St. Olaf in the meet was Cullen O'Neill. O'Neill, a senior, was third overall in the 1000 meter run, crossing the line in 2:31.39. He was also second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:54.82, which qualifies him provisionally for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Also placing in the 800 meter run for St. Olaf was David Anderson, who was fourth in 1:57.03. In the mile run, teammate Dobuol Ruon, a sophomore, was also fourth in 4:25.94, and hi 8:46.46 performance in the 3000 meter run was good for fifth. Ole Jacob Marotz, a junior, also fared well in distance events, gaining fourth place in the 5000 meter run with a time of 15:12.16.

In shorter events, Dan Monroe was fifth overall in the 200 meter dash, running 22.69.

Off the track, Ryan Doyle was second in the pentathlon, totalling 3464 points, and edging out third place Paul Shol of Concordia Moorhead by 20 points. Doyle was also fourth in a close high jump, with a height of 1.94 meters. Also in field events, senior Zeke Heydenreich added a third place finish in the weight throw, distancing 16.24 meters.

The Oles finished the MIAC Championships with 90.5 points. Winner St. Thomas University totalled 178.5, second place Hamline University had 111.0, and third place Bethel University finished with 98.0.

Contact media relations specialist Mike Ludwig at (507) 786-3834 or ludwigm@stolaf.edu.