Skills Showcase

Men fourth, women ninth at MIAC Championships.

Gino Terrell, Reporter

The men’s and women’s track and field meet at the MIAC Indoor Championships in Northfield, Minn. last Thursday kicked off day one of three.

Paul Schmaedeke, men’s track and field head coach, was pleased by how the season has gone heading into the MIAC Indoor Track and Field Meet.

“We had a good season up to this point; we developed pretty well. I’m pleased with our training and how people are coming along,” Schmaedeke said.

Last season, the men’s finished second, and the women finished sixth. Schmaedeke wanted to finish strong in this year’s meet.

“Our goal is always to be one of the top three teams,” he said.

Day one of the event included the MIAC Championship heptathlon along with the MIAC Championship pentathlon.

In the pentathlon, junior Keelie Sorensen finished in seventh place. She stayed consistent with a solid finish in four of the five events and placed right outside the top five in the long jump and 800-meter run.

First-year Carolyn Saulsberry’s top five finishes in two events led her to an overall ninth place finish. She placed fourth in the long jump and fifth in the 60-meter hurdles.

Day two of the meet, the men’s performance catapulted them to an overall fourth place standing, as they only trailed Bethel by three points heading into day three. In day two, it only took sophomore Eric Hanson 8.535 seconds to finish the 60-meter hurdles as he placed second in the event.

The Pipers also finished second in the distance medley relay, recording a time of 10:26:29. They were just 2.5 seconds away from a first place finish. Sophomore Derrick Mora and junior Joe Morelli contributed as well with third place finishes in their events.

Day two for the women’s capped off with sophomore Shawny Kramer winning the weight throw title and with senior Becky Culp finishing in second.

Day three concluded the MIAC Indoor Track and Field Meet. The men’s finished in fourth, and the women’s finished in ninth.

The women’s capped it off with Culp winning the shot put in record-breaking fashion with a 47’3.5, which is a MIAC record and the fourth best in Division-III.

Both teams will look to build off this meet’s momentum for their two-day event this weekend at Naperville, Illinois, where they will compete in the NCAA D-III Indoor Championships.

Schmaedeke explained that his team’s philosophy — ‘control what we can control’ — is always the same heading into each event. The NCAA D-III Indoor Championships is no exception.

“I’m a big believer in that: stay focused on the things we can control,” Schmaedeke said. “We can’t control how other people perform. If we stay focused on the things we can control, we’ll perform well and then see where that leads us.”