<rleton College men’s track and field team had four All-Conference performances on day two of the MIAC Championships. Leading the way was Marcus Huderle ‘14, who successfully defended his steeplechase crown with a winning time of 9:23.95.
The winds at O’Shaughnessy Stadium held steady from 20-27 mph, making for some challenges in both the track and field events. Host school St. Thomas won the team title with 186 points, followed by Saint John’s (116), Bethel (103.5), St. Olaf (93.5), Hamline (86), and Carleton (80).
The Knights totaled their biggest points in the 800-meter run and the steeplechase. In the latter event, Huderle led wire-to-wire, while Brian Spisiak ‘13 and Matt Harrison ‘13 both scored, finishing fourth and eighth, respectively.
The 800-meter race featured the Knights’ youngsters as Noah Laack-Veeder ‘15, Jack Percival ‘16, and Joe Haase ‘16 placed second, third, and sixth overall in a fantastic final 200-meter sprint to the tape. Percival edged his nearest competitor by 0.05 second, while Haase had an even smaller margin, capturing All-MIAC Honorable Mention by only 0.03 second.
Hart Hornor ‘16 ran an aggressive race structure and finished second in the 5000-meter run at 15:04.56. He held the lead for most of the second-half of the event and beat all but one of the top distance runners in the MIAC. However, he could not catch Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf, who finished third individually at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall.
C.J. Dale ‘13 concluded the conference meet with new personal bests in the long jump (6.71 meters), triple jump (13.17 meters), and decathlon (5974 points). Each time he placed fourth overall to garner All-MIAC Honorable Mention.
In addition to Dale’s solid efforts, the other Carleton field-event athletes also had an impact on the team standings. Adan Nunez-Frausto ‘14 placed fourth in the hammer throw with a toss of 46.20 meters.
Alexander Polk ‘15 added a personal-best distance of 52.20 meters on his final attempt and grabbed sixth place and All-MIAC Honorable Mention.
The Knights had a fifth-place result in the 4×800 relay on Friday night and matched that during the 4×100-meter relay on Saturday.
Ian Reeves ‘16, Garo Anguiano-Sainz ‘15, Ben Nicla ‘16, and Jordan Washam ‘14 combined on a time of 44.32.