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Piper track and field had three members score at the MIAC Multi-Event Championships and recorded several top finishes at the unscored Meet of the UnSaintly last week.

Junior Ryan Peterson said he’s confident the Pipers will surpass their indoor track and field marks during the MIAC Outdoor Championships this week.

“We have more people who are stepping up to score in event,” Peterson said.

At the Indoor MIAC Championships the Pipers’ men’s track and field team had four individual winners, more than any other school, and head coach Paul Schmaedeke was honored the MIAC Indoor Men’s Coach of the Year.

On Thursday May 1 and Friday May 2, the Pipers competed in the MIAC Multi-Event Championships. At the meet the Pipers had three finishers place in the top 10.

For the men’s, senior Andrew Ferguson finished fourth in the decathlon with a total score of 5,668 points which set a new school record.

“I’m just happy that all my work from the past year is paying off and allowing me to both break the record and score valuable points for the team,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson also set a personal record on the 110 meter hurdles and he’s hoping his performance will carry over at the conference meet.

“[Ferguson] is very talented,” Peterson said. “He’s definitely found his stride this year. He made some pretty good marks.”

On the women’s side, they had two top 10 finishers in the heptathlon during the MIAC Multi-Event Championships. Sophomore Carolyn Saulsberry’s score of 3912 points placed her fourth, and first-year Gabby Koel placed seventh with a score of 3497.

Carolyn described her performance as up and down, however she said it was expected when it comes to this event.

“The thing with the multi’s is that very rarely you will have all of your top performances so you just have to roll with the punches,” she said. “We got both teams on the board for next week, so I’m proud with how we all did.”

Saturday May 3 wrapped up day two of the unscored Meet of the UnSaintly event. The men’s finished with 14 finishes that placed sixth and higher. The women’s had six athletes place in the top four.

Sophomore Marolyn Saulsberry won the 400 meter hurdles and set a personal best on the 100 hurdles to place second. Senior Hannah Toedter placed second in the 3000 meter steeplechase.

Day one of two for the MIAC Outdoor Championships will begin on Friday May 9.

Peterson said he’s excited because he’s in a position where he can win conference in the steeplechase and make a run for nationals. Peterson is also going to be in the lineup for the 4×400 relay and he said the team is aiming to come close to the school record.

“I’ve only experienced outdoor once and it’s a little nerve wracking knowing that I can win an event,” he said.

Peterson was sidelined last year during the outdoor season due to an injury. He said this year in Jan. he trained in Texas to prepare for this season.

“I just made sure to keep things in perspective and realize that sometimes injuries are going to happen no matter what, but if you want it bad enough you’re going to have to try for it,” he said. “You get through those as best as you can but you focus on the things that you can control and have fun doing it.”

As the MIAC Outdoor Championships is approaching, Peterson is confident the team can exceed what they have accomplished during the indoor season. He said the team had 18 scorers during indoor and he predicts that if the team can get 23 athletes to score, then they can be in contention to win the MIAC Championship.

He added that over the course of the outdoor season, more athletes have stepped up in their performance, and he attributes that to the team’s mentality to work collectively to sustain the team atmosphere.

“Keeping the team mentality and being excited that everybody else is working hard and that they’re excited to do well too,” Peterson said. “I think when you lose the focus of the team, things just kind of go haywire and everybody is just competing for themselves and it’s just not fun anymore.”