<rlie Gamble ’10 needed only 14:38.40 to run 5,000 meters at the Iowa State Classic Saturday, a Division I meet that accepts entries from the country’s top Division III runners.
He finished a close second in his seeded section to Hunter Mickow of the University of Illinois, and 16th overall. Only three D-III runners bettered Gamble’s time.Carleton has a history of sending its finest to Ames, Iowa for this meet, but none—including All-Americans Matt Hooley ’04, Dan Bucy ’05 and Steve Harris ’06—have run as fast as Gamble did.
His time qualifies him provisionally for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in Terra Haute, Indiana. He is currently 11th on the national honor roll in the event. Unfortunately, Gamble’s time will suffer an absurd 5.5 second penalty for being run on an oversized track, as the Iowa State oval is 300 meters around.
Gamble will seek a qualifying time in the one mile run tonight in Minneapolis.The rest of the Knights track & field team stayed home to compete in the Meet of the Hearts at the Rec Center.
Tom Ballinger ’09 emerged victorious in the 600-yard dash, running 1:15.20 and obliterating the field. His nearest foe finished over three seconds behind. Ballinger also finished second in the 200-meter dash, clocking 23.65.
Former MIAC athlete of the week Nick Cesarek displayed his unparalleled sprint range, winning the 400 meters in 51.02 and taking third in a talented 55-meter field. Cesarek’s 2-lap time is the sixth fastest in the conference.
Other 400-meter highlights included Steven Holley’s run of 54.25 to win his heat, a personal record of more than three seconds.
The Knights managed a 1-2 finish in the 800 meters, as Michael Sanders ’10 edged Jack Delehanty ’09 down the finishing straight, 1:59.46 to 2:00.17.
The one mile run featured a five-second PR by Colin Sinclair, whose finishing kick devastated the field as he sprinted home to his 4:33.11, good enough for third place.
Sanders and Delehanty joined Cesarek and Ballinger in the 1600-meter relay, the final event of the meet. Ballinger got the baton in second and could not quite catch Hamline’s squad, finishing just .08 seconds off the pace but running a very respectable 3:24.45. The Knights defeated conference rival Gustavus by nearly two seconds.
Lu-Lu-Lu-Luther rounded out the field a full 12 seconds off the leaders, much to the dismay of their chanting fans.
Evan Franco ’10 (no known relation to women’s 400- and 600-meter record-setter Clare Franco) turned in the best field-event performance of the day, vaulting 4.13 meters (over thirteen and one half English feet) for second place in the competition.
Even without Gamble, the Knights managed 121 points for third place, just 2.5 behind Hamline. Gustavus won the meet with 159.
A handful of Knights will compete tonight at the Snowshoe Open at the University of Minnesota, and the full squad will be in action again tomorrow afternoon at St. Olaf’s Tostrud Classic.