<ack team headed north yesterday and will compete in the MIAC Championships tonight and tomorrow at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN.
Distance runner Charlie Gamble ’10 has led the way for the Knights all season, and emerged as one of the dominant forces in the conference in all of his events.
Gamble will contest the 5000- and 3000-meter runs this weekend. In the 5000 meters tonight, the Knight super-stud is the top seed by 37 seconds, and has his eyes on the NCAA national qualifying standards.
He will likely be running alone, as no one in the MIAC can keep his blistering pace, and will likely need to run in the vicinity of 14:35 to qualify for the national meet next weekend in Terra Haute, Indiana. Gamble has run 14:38.40 this season.
Tomorrow afternoon, Gamble will return to the track for the 3000 meters, where he is seeded 14 seconds clear of the field. With no NCAA standards to shoot for, the race is likely to come down to a finishing kick for the conference title.
Given his credentials, it would be quite unwise to bet against Gamble in such a situation—he closed in 28 seconds in his 8:25.44 effort in January and blew by Hamline’s Brandon Gleason, one of the best kickers in the nation let alone the conference.
Long sprinter and hurdler Tom Ballinger ’09 will also look to score big points. Ballinger is a two-event defending champion after winning the 400-meter and 600-yard dashes a year ago. He set the school record in his 600-yard victory by running 1:12.48, and will contest both races this weekend.
Ballinger will face strong competition from other schools, but also from his teammates. Jack Delehanty ’09 will join him in the fast section of the 600, and Michael Sanders ’10 is the top seed in the second heat. Delehanty and Sanders will also run in the fast heat of the 800 meters.
Nick Cesarek ’09 enters the Championships as the eight-seed in the 55-meter dash, and the nine-seed in the 200. His regular season runs have earned him preferred lanes, and he will have a chance to break into the points in both events.
Sanders, Cesarek, Delehanty and Ballinger will team up to run the final event of the meet tomorrow afternoon, the 4×400-meter relay. The Knights have run 3:23.34 this season, third fastest in the MIAC and the best time at Carleton since 1992.
Ballinger leads one of the strongest Knights hurdling squads of all time. Ty Martin ’11, Dylan Bothun ’11, Kane Bechstein ’09 and Kyle Burkhardt ’10 will all compete in the 55-meter barriers race.
In the field, the pole vault should provide both excitement and valuable team points for Carleton. Five MIAC vaulters have jumped between 14’ and 14’2’’ this year, and two of them—Evan Franco ’10 and Bechstein—will wear Maize and Blue at Concordia.
Jameson Siegert ’11 rounds out the Knight field contingent. Siegert will jump high this afternoon, and three times tomorrow morning.
Colin Sinclair ’11 will look to use his devastating finishing kick to wreak havoc on unsuspecting foes in the mile run. Chris Marshall ’10, Tom Brenner ’09, Kian Flynn ’12 and Eric Hofmann ’09 will join him. Sinclair, Marshall and Flynn will return in the 1000 meters.