<rleton College men’s track and field team scored points in 15 of the 20 events and was able to match its best-ever finish at the MIAC Indoor Championships as the Knights took second out of the 11 teams.
St. Thomas won its 35th consecutive team indoor title, totaling 185 points. Carleton (105.5 points) edged Saint John’s (103) and Bethel (98) for second place. Gustavus Adolphus (68 points) was a distant fifth place.
The Knights were second most of the meet and held that position with three events remaining. Ben Schwartz (Jr./Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) reached the finish line in the 200-meter dash at 22.74 and added to the Carleton point total with his eighth-place result. However, Saint John’s scored 18 points in that event and climbed over Bethel and Carleton in the standings.
In fact, the Knights slipped to fourth after that race, but the event schedule showed that the second-to-last event of the meet was the 3000-meter run. Carleton’s distance corps did not disappoint and finished 1-3-6-8, totaling 20 points to leapfrog back into second place.
Lucas Mueller (So./St. Paul, Minn./Nova Classical Academy) won his second individual title in as many days, crossing the line in 8:26.88. Matt Wilkinson (So./Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) joined him on the All-MIAC squad with a third-place finish in a personal-best 8:33.68. Tris Dodge (Sr./Oakland, Calif./College Prep) picked up all-conference honorable mention after crossing the line at 8:39.47, good for sixth place. Cameron Meikle (Jr./Hamilton, Mont./Hamilton) was eighth at 8:45.68.
Carleton was able to hold onto the second spot in the standings when Joey Cook-Gallardo (Jr./Moscow, Idaho/Moscow) anchored the 4×400-meter relay to a fourth-place finish, giving the Knights just enough points to hold off the Johnnies. Cook-Gallardo teamed with Bryan Richter (Jr./Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln), Zach Kulstad (So./Savage Minn./Prior Lake), and Schwartz on an time of 3:36.43 as they picked up All-MIAC honorable mention.
Each point proved critical throughout the weekend, and day three began with the field events, where Peter Keel (Jr./Roseville, Minn./Roseville) received All-MIAC honorable mention after a fifth-place result in the triple jump with a new personal best of 13.75 meters. Owen Schuster (Fy./Batavia, Ill./Batavia) tied for eighth in the pole vault, soaring a personal-best 4.02 meters (13 feet, 2.25 inches).
The first track event on the final day was the 4×200-meter relay, where the quartet of Liam Sullivan (Jr./Chicago, Ill./St. Ignatius), Kulstad, Richter, and Schwartz broke the school record and secured all-conference honorable mention with a third-place finish in 1:30.39.
Cook-Gallardo was the runner up in the 600-meter run, earning All-MIAC recognition as he clocked a personal-best time of 1:21.94.
Mueller secured another All-MIAC award with his third-place result in the 1000-meter run. He crossed the line in 2:29.01, good for another new personal record.
