<ack and field team competed at the MIAC Outdoor Championships Friday and Saturday at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota.
Their tenth-place team finish fails to tell the story of the meet for the Knights, who enjoyed one of their most successful competitions of the season.
Charlie Gamble ’10 earned his fourth All-MIAC citation with a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters. Opting to pass on the 1,500- and 10,000-meter events to remain fresh for his specialty proved to be a good decision.
Gamble and St. Olaf’s Doboul Ruon gapped the field by the mile mark, and it became a two-man race for the conference title. The pair ran together until Ruon dropped an outstanding 62-second finishing lap which Gamble could not cover.
His runner-up time of 14:52.46 put Gamble over 14 seconds clear of the third-place finisher Ian Bauer of Hamline.
Fellow Page House East resident Ty Martin ’11 ran 15.52 to finish fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles. After winning his Friday preliminary heat in 15.50, Martin battled a strong field in the final to notch his second All-MIAC selection.
Martin also ran an unbelievable 55.92 PR in the 400 hurdle prelim on Friday. He would go on to finish ninth in the final, learning first-hand just how unbelievably beastly Tom Ballinger ’09 really is.
A trio of Knights received All-MIAC honorable mention honors for finishing sixth in their respective events: Michael Sanders ’10 in the 800, John Davis ’11 in the steeplechase, and Robert Wakeley ’12 in the javelin.
Sanders ran a PR 1:54.65 in the 800-meter final, in which seven competitors broke 1:55. He also competed in the 4×400-meter relay, anchoring the Knight squad.
Davis did much of the early work before slipping back to sixth in 9:38.98.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire meet for Carleton was the performance of Wakeley, who bettered his previous personal best on all six of his throws at the conference meet
Entering Saturday’s competition, Wakeley had never broken the 44-meter barrier in a Knights uniform. His first throw sailed 46.64 meters, and he was not finished. His third throw would end up being his best mark, 46.76 meters. He was the 16th-best performer on the honor roll before the meet.
The Knights also received scoring performances in the two vertical jumps, as Evan Franco ’10 cleared 4.17 for eighth in the pole vault and Dylan Cheever ’13 high jumped 1.88 to finish in a tie for eighth.
The 4×800-meter relay team of Aaron Hirsh ’10, Cheever, Colin Sinclair ’11 and Matt Harrison ’13 ran 8:13.11, also finishing in eighth place and scoring one team point.
Chris Marshall ’10 ran 4:10.64 in Friday’s prelims of the 1,500 meters to sneak into the finals in the last qualifying spot. He ran a PR 4:07.32 in the finals to finish a non-scoring 10th. He was 45th on the conference honor roll going into the meet.
Kian Flynn ’12 and Hirsh led much of the first prelim section of the 1,500. The top seeds in the first heat were scared of a backstretch headwind, forcing the two Fellahs to do the pacing early on.
Despite going out in a horrendously slow 2:22 for 800 meters, Flynn ran 4:14.76 and Hirsh 4:15.07. Flynn finished eighth, but first among competitors from Otis, Oregon.
In the triple jump, C.J. Dale improved on his personal best, jumping 12.91 meters or 42 feet, 4 ¼ inches.
Two other Knight seniors competed in their last collegiate meet. Kyle Burkhardt ran a near-PR 58.04 in the 400 hurdles, and might have made the final had it not been for that pesky sixth hurdle. He also ran an outstanding leg of the 4×400 relay
Ezra Velazquez competed on both short relays for the Knights. The 4×100 made the final conservatively after Macalester dropped the baton, and the 4×400 broke 3:30, running 3:29.25. Both relays finished ninth.
The conference meet marked the end of the season for all but two Knights. Gamble and Sanders both competed at last-chance meets in an effort to qualify for next weekend’s NCAA Championship.
Gamble again contested the 5,000, this time last night at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Sanders ran the 800 yesterday evening in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Both races occurred after this edition of The Carletonian was sent to press.
-Chris Marshall is a member of the men’s track team