Top Moments of Day 2

Here are the top moments to a very memorable Day 2 at the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Meet. This might not be the longest list as the two long days are starting to finally catch up – but hopefully it will be a reminder of all the great things that happened in Moorhead over the two days of competition.

Once again, if you want the standard recap, go to the MIAC site and check out the review of the meet on the men’s and women’s sites. This is more of a personal observation from a person that doesn’t take in a lot of track meets throughout the year.

Top Performances on Saturday
– I start out Saturday’s recap with one of the great post-race smile of the weekend.  Carleton sophomore Adrian Carpenter held off a strong field in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and broke the 15-second barrier in doing so. What made the moment so special was his celebration and the ear-to-ear grin he had for a long time after. After winning the race he made his way down the track only to be greeted by his coach – who was even happier than Adrian. The Carleton coach hustled down the outside of the track after the race was over and had an even bigger smile than Adrian. The hugs from coach and teammates that followed tells the story of DIII athletics – there might not be a lot of public accolades but the rewards you get from your teammates and peers are even more special.

– One of the most memorable moments of the entire weekend was watching the diversity of all the athletes as they competed in several events. There were many athletes that had to hustle from event to event in order to try and succeed so their team could score points. The “case in point” that I am most familiar with is Concordia junior Kaari Jensen. Watching her go from event to event to event on Saturday made me tired. Kaari started with the women’s javelin. She then went to the high jump. After that she competed in the 110-meter hurdle finals, triple jump, 400-meter hurdles and then was the lead leg for the 4×400-meter relay team. She wound up winning the javelin, placed in the top 5 in the two hurdle events and helped the Cobbers place third in the 4×4. I know there were other athletes that were just as busy on Saturday and to all of them I say, “take the week off, you deserve it!” I am tired from just typing all those events.

– This is an add-on to the above memorable moment as UST sophomore Emily Van Heel won both the 400 meters and triple jump and also raced in the finals of the 200 meters. On top of that she ran legs in the winning teams for the 4×100-meter relay and 4×400-meter relay. That is five events on Saturday and four wins. Two thoughts come to mind – that is an unbelievable amount of running and jumping in a single day and – with that winning percentage her coach needs to find more events for her to compete in!

– One of the things that was memorable about both days was the pain that the long distance runners inflict upon themselves while running their races. It is a case where they look like they are always in pain during the race and almost all collapse after the race. I admire their dedication to the sport and willingness to push themselves to the limit. You just can’t help but cringe as you watch the runners on the final laps of the 5k and 10k try and run faster.

– That brings us to another great finish in a distance race. The finish to the men’s 5k held another memorable moment as Jack Deichert of Hamline and Ben Sathre of St. Thomas battled all the way to the wire. Like the 10k, the men’s 5k was decided by less than a second. Deichert edged Sathre by .06 of a second. Sathre wound up losing the 10k and 5k by a combined total of .47 of a second. Even though he finished second in both races he proved two of the more memorable moments of the weekend.

– The best finishing kick of the day goes to Deichert who came from behind in the 1500 meters and blew away the competition on the final straightaway. He was tucked inside a contingent from St. Olaf the entire race but then exploded after the final turn and ran away with the race.

– Augsburg’s Ashley Carney and St. Thomas’ Cody Jerabek can realistically call themselves the fastest woman and man in the MIAC. Carney and Jerabek both pulled off the daunting “Daily Double” as they won the 100 meters and 200 meters. Both athletes had strong competition in both races but were able to find a way to win at the wire. Just watching them fly down the track is electric as they turn over their steps at an unbelievable rate.

– The shortest memorable moment of the day belongs to St. Thomas junior Mike Hutton who ran away with the 800 meters and then anchored the victorious 4×400-meter relay team. He is the epitome of Charlie Sheen’s mantra – winning!

– There were many other great moments but we are starting to fall asleep at the keyboard. I want to leave you with the most memorable moment of the entire weekend for this SID. I will be the first to admit that I do not understand the mind set of track and field athletes. I was always the type who needed to run down a ball or skate after a puck. Neither way is better, it is just a personal preference. One thing I will say about all the track and field athletes is that I have never seen more team spirit from any other sport. Even though track and field is mostly a one-person sport, the way all the individuals go out of their way to cheer for every person on the team is inspiring and very commendable. Whether it be the entire St. Mary’s throw squad moving from event to event to support each other, the way the entire Hamline team goes around and cheers, the crew of athletes from St. John’s that is at every event or the willingness of any athlete to finish their event and then go directly to another event and help out their teammates was amazing.

The best argument for this team bonding comes from the final event of the meet. The way all the teams gathered at the far end of the track to yell and scream for the 4×400-meter relay teams was electric. I watched as the Gustavus women’s 4×400-meter team finished their race and then jogged to get to the end of the track to cheer for their men’s team. I had chills watching the final two races as all the athletes rose as one to motivate their teammates.  If you have never watched the final relay events at a conference meet you should do yourself a favor and watch it just once.

The other thing that I will remember from the weekend is how the athletes took the time to thank the officials after the meet. Rarely in any other sport do you see the respect and gratitude that the track and field  athletes had for the officials – it was very refreshing.

I applaud all the track and field athletes. They should be proud of the way they handled themselves and constantly showed support for their teammates and school.

Thanks to everyone that came to Moorhead to be a part of the meet. Special thanks to all the great officials who made the entire weekend go very smoothly. Without their love of the sport it would be impossible to put on such a great event.

See you in ’21!

Top 7 Pictures of Day 2

Here are the top 7 pictures from the final day of competition at the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field. As with the top 7 from Day 1, these are just my personal favorites. I am sure there are some better pictures – some with better quality and some with more action – but these are the ones we like.

Hopefully they will make you smile, think or say “why did he pick that picture?”! Without further introduction – here are Saturday’s Top 7:

No. 7
Like so many spring sport athletes, track and field participants sometimes miss their graduation ceremony to take part in a conference championship meet or tournament. The six seniors on the St. Ben’s team made the most of Saturday as they brought out their gowns and had their own little ceremony on the track before the meet started. We applaud all the seniors on every team and wish them the best after graduation. Special thanks to Cobber men’s coach Garrick Larson for supplying the picture.

No. 6
I can’t have a top 7 track and field list without the obligatory sand spray. This was one of the best with a full “rooster tail” of sand that would make any slalom water skier proud. Gustavus senior triple jumper Emily Klatt had a unique landing style that caused a great sand spray every single time.

No.5
This is another obligatory track and field picture – the landing of the steeplechase. It is the perfect, and easiest, photo shoot at a track meet. With all the water and jumping – you are guaranteed to get a good shot. We chose this one for the different things going on with the picture. There are the three runners in the three different stages of jumping the water hazard. Then you have the great splash effect. Finally, you have a lot of color going on in the picture. Black, red, blue-greenish water and we really like the pink hair band!

No. 4
This picture falls into the great facial expression category. Concordia pole vaulter Erik Olson does his best scream to try and clear the bar as he goes over the top. We also like the separation from the pole and nothing but blue sky in the background.

No.3
This picture was captured at the start of the third leg in the men’s 4×400-meter relay. It shows the three different athletes raising their hands to help their teammates pick them out as they approach. It looks like they are all very eager to answer a question from one of their professors!

No.2
This is not the best quality picture of the bunch, but it tells the one of the best stories of the day. It was taken right after the men’s 110-meter hurdles and shows Carleton sophomore Adrian Carpenter getting a congratulatory hug from one of his teammates after he won the event by .23 of a second. Carpenter pulled off the upset in the race and produced one of the best ear-to-ear winning grins of the meet. We actually missed the best picture of this moment. The Carleton coach came running down the outside of the finish line and was whooping and hollering and had an even bigger grin than Adrian!

No.1
This picture was taken during the men’s 4×400-meter relay and tries to capture the unbelievable team spirit of the crowd on the turn at the far end of the track – it doesn’t come close. The final event of the conference meet has a completely different feel as all the athletes gather at one end to cheer on their teammates. There was a great feeling of electricity in the crowd when the runners finally made their way around the turn – and the roar of the crowd was pretty special too!

Thanks to all the athletes and fans that made taking the pictures so fun. We hope you enjoyed all the shots from the weekend and be sure to check out both galleries as we posted over 250 shots from the two days.

Day 2 Pictures Are Now Online!

The pictures from the second day of the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field meet are now online! We have added 128 more pictures that hopefully capture the spirit of the final day at a very memorable MIAC Championship Meet.

Several track records fell and there were numerous school records that were challenged on a gorgeous day for racing, jumping, throwing and vaulting.

Once again there are some good pictures, some not-so-good pictures and some ones that are very “eeshy”. As you can tell – I am not a professional photographer. I just wanted to take the time and give the fans that couldn’t make it to the meet a taste of what it was like to be “up close and personal”. While I don’t try and take the best action shots, I do try and take pictures that have memorable faces, expressions or a lot of action going on.

Below are the links to the gallery of pics where you can look at them all together or if you want to sit back and watch the pictures in a slide show format, simply click on the slide show link. In either case, we hope we captured some of the great moments of the 2012 MIAC Track and Field Championship Meet.

– MIAC Meet Day 2 Picture Gallery

– MIAC Meet Day 2 Picture Slideshow

Final Results Are Here!

Saturday, May 12,
6:20 p.m.
The final results from the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship Meet are now online!

Click on the links below to be taken to the results for all the events as well as the final team scores. Congratulations to both the St. Thomas men’s and women’s teams who won the team titles.

We hope that everyone who took in the events at Concordia had a great time and enjoyed the perfect weather.

2012 MIAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Meet Final Results

2012 MIAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Meet Final Results
Final Men’s Team Scores:
1. St. Thomas – 187.0
2. Hamline – 153.0
3. Gustavus – 118.0
4. Saint John’s – 101.0
5. Bethel – 86.0
6. Carleton – 71.0
7. St. Olaf – 63.0
8. Concordia Moorhead – 58.0
9. Augsburg – 14.0
10. Macalester – 4.0
11. Saint Mary’s – 3.0

Final Women’s Team Scores:
1. St. Thomas – 172.5
2. Concordia – 120.5
3. Gustavus – 99.0
4. St. Benedict – 91.0
5. Carleton – 85.0
6. Hamline – 72.0
7. St. Olaf – 69.0
8. Bethel – 60.0
9. Macalester – 30.0
T10. Augsburg – 27.0
T10.  St. Catherine – 27.0
12.  Saint Mary’s – 5.0

Top Moments of Day 1

We thought we would cap off the first day of the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Meet by sharing some of the top moments we saw as we wandered around the Jake Christiansen Athletic Complex and took in all the awe inspiring athletes that the conference showcases during the two day event.

This is not your regular recap of the first day. If you want to read your typical newspaper rundown of all the events, head over the MIAC site and look at the recap that Matt Higgins posted on both the women’s and men’s pages.

This recap is just the things that caught my eye as the day unfolded and history was made.

Top Performances on Friday
– I have to start out by the stadium record-setting high jump effort of Eyo Ekpo. To be up close when an athlete jumps over a bar that is 6 feet-10.75 inches off the ground is amazing. You really have to see the bar to appreciate the height that Ekpo cleared. To put it into perspective – your average door frame is around 6 feet-8 inches high. Look at the nearest door and think of Eyo jumping from the floor and putting his back over the top of the door frame and clearing it cleanly. It was very impressive. His winning height is the third best in all of NCAA DIII this year.

– The next moment that left an impression was the very first event of the day. After all the anticipation of the week and then the warm-up and national anthem, the men’s javelin athletes led off the championship meet and Concordia’s Connor Johnson kicked everything off in style. On his third throw of the day he uncorked a PR of 178-11 which ended up being 12 feet farther than the next competitor. The way the javelin came out of his hand and sailed through the air on the throw – everyone who was huddled around the area just let out a big gasp. It was fun to see – and hear. What makes the moment even more dramatic is that Johnson just took up the javelin this year. In his first meet of the season at St. John’s he only threw 125-01 and finished 11th. Less than two months later he is the MIAC champion.

– The final field competition led to one of the most dramatic moments of the day. St. Ben’s senior Julie Renner saved her best to long jumps for the most dramatic moment. With a huge crowd surrounding the long jump pit, Renner flew to a mark of 5.60 meters in her second-to-last jump and then gave the audience an encore when she went 5.70 meters in the very final jump of the competition. Her mark of 18-08.50 is a a season best and puts her in the top 20 of the country.

– Another women’s athlete almost soared into meet history. Gustavus junior Allyson Voss completely soared over the field as she won the event with a height of 11-11.75. She then went on to try and break the meet record at 12-05.25 but came up just a bit short. Her winning height puts her in the top 25 of the country. The look on her face after the event told the whole story – being an MIAC champion is a very exciting moment!

– The prowess of St. Thomas junior Mike Hutton in the 800 meters is unmistakable. Hutton cruised to a heat win in the individual 800 meters and then helped St. Thomas come-from-behind in the men’s 4×800-meter relay to win the final event of Day 1. Hutton took the baton after the completion of the third leg and was behind by a good 15 yards. He then proceeded to catch Brian Saska of St. Olaf by the end of the first turn. The two then went shoulder-to-shoulder for the next lap until Hutton revved up the engine and pulled away from Saska down the final backstretch. I know one thing, if I have to bet my house on one MIAC athlete in the 800 meters – it is going to be Hutton.

– The final top moment of the day gave us the best finish in the day. It happened in the longest race of the whole meet. The men’s 10,000 meters provided a finish that is usually reserved for the 200 or 400 meters. A pack of seven racers paced each other for most of the race, that group was then trimmed to five which was then cut to three for the final two laps. Devin Monson and Ellis Richardson of Hamline dueled with Ben Sathre for the final 800 meters. Richardson wound up being the “lead car” for the final lap-and-half as Monson and Sathre drafted in behind. Monson and Sathre then made their move down the final stretch and pulled away for a terrific two-man kick to the end. Monson wound up winning the race by a mere .41 seconds. That means a race that took over 30 minutes to run was won by less than a second. Wow!

We have two final moments that we didn’t see up close but were present during the event.
– The first epic missed moment came in the hammer throw where Hamline freshman Shawny Kramer won the event with a throw of 172-11. That mark broke the old meet record by a foot-and-a-half. What makes it even more dramatic is that the record was held by her senior teammate Brenna Coyle. Yes, we will use the old cliche that the hammer torch has officially been passed to the next generation!

– The other epic moment happened right in front of us but we were too busy concentrating on another athlete that we completely missed a stadium record. The feat was pulled off in the women’s 10k where Carleton senior Alison Smyth broke away from teammate Simone Childs-Walker and St. Thomas sophomore Erin Statz and won the event by 21 seconds. Her finishing time of 36:19.47 broke the stadium record by eight full seconds. Between running to take pictures of the women’s discus and long jump and concentrating on Childs-Walker – who was attempting to win her fourth straight conference 10k – we completely missed Smyth break away from the other two and win the race. Unlike the men’s race where all the runners were bunched together, the women’s 10k was strung out all over the track and we didn’t know who was in front. It wound up costing us one of the best moments of the day.

Those are just the top things we saw on a beautiful day 1 of the conference meet. We hope that day 2 provides more magical moments for the fans to enjoy.

Top 7 Pictures Of Day 1

Here are the top seven pictures from the first day of the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Meet. We chose these seven for different reasons, some because of the picture, others because of the dramatic moment it captured in the event.

Like all top 10, 6 or 5 lists, there will always be some good things left out. We are just highlighting these seven because they are the personal favorites.

You can click on all the pics and see them in their actual size.

No.7
This picture is of St. Thomas long jumper Christina Rozeske. We chose this picture because of the spray of sand and the action in the picture as Christina lands in the pit.  Plus, we are always amazed at how deep the long jumpers dig into the pit every time they land.

No.6
This picture was taken on the final backstretch of the men’s 4×800-meter relay. I happened to be in the right place at the right time as St. Thomas anchor Mike Hutton put his head down and made his move to pass St. Olaf sophomore Brian Saska. The move happened right in front of me and both runners knew this was the moment that would decide the race.  Hutton went on to win the race.

No.5
This picture was taken right after Gustavus junior Allyson Voss won the pole vault competition – and barely missed breaking the MIAC Meet record. We like this picture for the directions of everyone’s eyes. Allyson is looking at her coach with pride, the opposing coach is shaking the Gustavus coach’s hand and looking down and the Gustavus coach is happy in getting the congratulatory hand shake. The thing that puts this picture over the top is Allyson’s smile – priceless.

No.4
I had been trying to get a picture of one of the sprinter’s jumping in the air during warm ups for the entire meet. I either missed the shot or was focused on the wrong sprinter. In one of the last sprint events of the day, the men’s 100-meter dash, we hit the jackpot as we got two athletes in mid jump. The picture catches Devon Fleck of St. John’s and Derrick Mora in the air as they get ready to run in heat 1.

No.3
The composition of this picture isn’t very good – in fact it is marginal at best. However, it captures the best finish of the first day. This is the duel between Hamline’s Devin Monson and St. Thomas’ Ben Sathre in the final 20 yards of the men’s 10,000 meters. In a race that takes over 30 minutes to run, Monson won by less than a second. What makes this picture great are the expressions of the faces of the runners and the anticipation of the crowd in the background. Rarely is a 10k race described as an “edge of the seat” thriller but this one really was. Finally, the other thing that makes the picture is that I had to hustle from the other side of the track to get the shot. After shooting them on the far side I ran to the finish line to capture the great moment.

No.2
This is the picture of St. Thomas high jumper Eyo Ekpo breaking the stadium record. There is a lot going on in this picture with Ekpo clearing the bar, the height marker (6-10) in the background as well as the men’s 10k taking place on the track.

No.1
This picture was taken right after the men’s 10k race. It captures one of the St. John’s runners completely colllapsing in the arms of the head track official. The Johnnie runner started to wobble after he crossed the finish line. The official alertly walked over to him and then caught him as he was about to collapse. The official was holding on to the runner’s total body weight as he went limp from being totally exhausted after giving his all in the race.

Day 1 Pictures Are Now Online!

Relive all the great moments from the first day of the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Meet with the picture gallery.

We have uploaded 127 pictures into the gallery. Fans can click on the links below to either look at the gallery with all the pictures posted on one page or click on the slideshow link to be taken to a slide show of all the pictures.

We will be posting our top five favorite pictures from the first day of the championship meet.

We tried to take in all the events but since there was only one photographer and a lot of events, and space, to cover – it was impossible to get to everything.

We hope you enjoy all the pictures from a great opening day of the outdoor meet!

– Day 1 Photo Gallery

– Day 1 Photo Slideshow

Day 1 Results

Here are the results from the first day of the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Meet.

– Men’s MIAC Meet Day 1 Results
– Women’s MIAC Meet Day 1 Results
I will be posting a photo gallery as well as a complete first day recap as soon as possible.

It was a great first day at the conference meet. The weather turned out to be awesome and there were many terrific performances.

Live Updates & Pictures

Fans can follow along with all the action at the MIAC Track & Field Outdoor Championship Meet by following the CobberSID twitter feed.

We will be posting pictures as well as observations throughout the course of the meet.

CobberSID Twitter Feed

2012 Must See Events!

Tonight’s blog entry concentrates on the must-watch events at this MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship Meet. There will be several great races and field competitions but we are going to narrow it down to just one track event and one field event for both the men and women. This is based on the results heading into the meet and not necessarily on events from years past.

These are just four of the great events that will take place on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully they will live up to their pre-meet billing and the winners will become champions by a great effort and not a “bad day” from their competitors. The Cobber SID is hoping for many “instant classic” moments that lead to a very memorable meet.

Here are the must-see events. If you can only watch four events all weekend, here are the best bets for the best competition.

Men’s Track Event – 800 meters
(Prelims – Friday @ 3:50/Finals – Saturday @ 3:35)

St. Thomas junior Mike Hutton
(pic courtesy of UST SID)

We start off with the biggest “no-brainer” of the meet. The men’s 800 meters has five athletes ranked in the top 21 of the COUNTRY and another is 27^th in the nation. That makes six top 30 DIII runners in one race. There will be several great runners who won’t even make the finals on Saturday. The race is so competitive that one of the competitors who is ranked in the top 20 of the nation chose not to compete in the race.

St. Thomas junior Mike Hutton heads into the meet as the pre-race favorite. He is the only athlete to post a sub-1:50.00 this season. His season-best time of 1:49.45 is the second fastest in the nation.  After Hutton, there are four runners who have times within .60 of a second of each other.  The pack of Brian Tomlinson of St. Olaf, Noah Laack-Veeder of Carleton, Eric Jorgenson of Gustavus and Matt Schafer of Bethel will push Hutton throughout the race. One of the interesting facts about this group of five is that Schafer finished second in the event last year but was running for Augsburg. Otherwise, the only other returning place-winner is Tomlinson who was right behind Schafer in third place.

Who knows what could happen with a group of 5-6 runners that are all bunched around several turns?

Men’s Field Event –Triple Jump
(Finals – Saturday @ 11:30)

There are several field events in which the top 2-3 athletes are all grouped together. However, we are going with the one event that has two competitors in the top 25 of the nation. Blair Riegel of Gustavus and Eyo Ekpo of St. Thomas have both posted marks over 47 feet in the triple jump. Riegel is ranked 18^th in the nation with a distance of 47-05 and Ekpo is close behind at 47-01.75. Brandon Berger of St. Olaf and Ben Johnson of Hamline could pull off the upset as both have season-best jumps around the 45-foot mark.

Women’s Track Event –  10,000 meters
(Finals – Friday @ 5:05)

Carleton senior Simone Childs-Walker
(pic courtesy of Carleton SID)

This event will be one of the final chances for fans to see Carleton senior Simone Childs-Walker compete in the MIAC. Childs-Walker is the three-time defending champ in the event and currently owns the fourth fastest time in the country in the event. She ran a 35.40.87 at the Drake Relays. Childs-Walker, who has been named the MIAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week five times in her career, finished fourth in the NCAA 10K last year and has earned All-American honors in both the 5K and 10K for three straight seasons. She also won the 3K and 5K at this year’s conference indoor meet and was the champ at the MIAC women’s cross country race.

The reason we are picking this race instead of the 5K – which is the final individual event of the meet on Saturday and should be a victory lap for one of the most decorated runners in conference history – is because Childs-Walker could get pushed by a pair of conference runners in the 10K race. Emma Lee of St. Olaf and Alison Smyth of Carleton are also ranked in the top 20 of the nation. Lee owns the ninth fastest time in the nation at 36:07.61 and Smyth is 18^th with a time of 36:22.29. All three runners posted their top 20 DIII times at the Drake Relays. It will be the final time that either runner has a chance to better Childs-Walker so the motivation to try and take out the “MIAC Distance Queen” could become a powerful motivating factor.

Women’s Field Event – High Jump
(Finals – Saturday @ Noon)

Like the men’s “showcase” event selection, there are several other competitions that could become very dramatic. A couple of honorable mentions for this category are the long jump, shot put and discus. The long jump will be a race to see if St. Ben’s senior Julie Renner can hold off the horde of Concordia hopefuls (4 of the top 7 are from CC)while both the shot put and discus feature the top two athletes being separated by less than six inches – COMBINED!

We are going with the high jump because this event will feature the future of the MIAC. The top two athletes are both freshman and both are already ranked in the top 25 of the country. Concordia’s Chelsea Klemetson owns the top height in the conference at 5-06.00 while Dani Larson from St. Olaf is close behind at 5-05.25. Klemetson is ranked 10^th in DIII while Larson is 22^nd. The two posted the top marks at the MIAC Indoor Meet in March with Larson claiming the win on fewer misses at the lower heights. Both athletes competed at the NCAA Indoor Meet with Larson going on to win All-American honors by placing seventh.

We have a feeling that these two are going to become best friends/worst enemies by the time they finish off their careers at the 2015 MIAC Outdoor Meet!

There are the top four events we are most excited to watch this weekend. We would love to read which events you are most looking forward to. Please drop us a comment and tell us which event you really want to see and why you are on the edge of your seat in anticipation.