The titles of “best athletes in the MIAC” were handed out on Friday at Carleton as the decathlon and heptathlon crowned winners. The decathlon was won by St. Thomas senior Maxwell Dunne while Concordia junior Kaari Jensen broke the conference record on her way to winning the heptathlon.
Dunne posted a season-best score of 6,201 points on his way to recording the win in the decathlon. His score is the 15th best in the nation this season and puts him squarely in contention to make the NCAA National Meet. Dunne set the tone for his multi-event meet by racing to a 11.49 in the 100-meter dash in the very first event of the competition. That turned out to be his top scoring event of the 10 tasks. Dunne scored over 600 points in seven of the 10 events. He only posted one top 3 mark of the competitors in the 10 events but used his overall ability to post nine top 5 scores. He had the best height in the pole vault as he cleared 13-09.25.
Dunne led the Tommie 1-2-3 finish in the decathlon. UST junior Gavin Yseth finished second with a total of 6,151 points while fellow junior Patrick Ecklund was third with 5,868 points.
Jensen had the performance of the weekend as she broke the MIAC heptathlon record. Jensen finished with 4,829 points which eclipsed the old conference record of 4,668 was set in 2005 and held by Ashley Dingels of St. Mary’s. Jensen’s total is the second highest in NCAA Division III this year.
Jensen set personal best marks in three of the seven events. She also had the best marks of any competitor in the field in five of the seven events. In addition to her school record final total, she also posted the third fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles when she ran a 15.14 in the very first event of the heptathlon on Friday.
Jensen’s highest point total in any event came in the 100-meter hurdles where she scored 823 points. Jensen scored at least 600 points in all but one event and scored over 650 points in four of the seven competitions.
Gustavus senior Erica Roelefs held off a second-day charge from Mandy Witschen of St. Ben’s and finished in second place. Roelefs finished with 4,256 points which was less than 200 better than Witschen. Roelefs saved her best effort for the final event. She scored her most points of any event in the 800 meters – the final event of the competition. Both Roelefs and Witschen excelled in the running events. Both athletes scored over 640 points in all three running competitions.
The multi-event athletes will now join the rest of their teammates as they compete in the majority of the MIAC Championship Meet on May 10-11 at Concordia.
Final MIAC Decathlon Standings
1. Maxwell Dunne, Sr, St. Thomas – 6201
2. Gavin Yseth, Jr, St. Thomas – 6151
3. Patrick Ecklund, Jr, St. Thomas – 5868
4. C J. Dale, Jr, Carleton – 5747
5. Matt Flotterud, Fr, Gustavus – 5605
6. Dylan Cheever, Jr, Carleton – 5593
7. Colby Seyferth, Fr, Carleton – 5571
8. Brad Johnson, Jr, Concordia – 5493
9. Matt Johnson, Sr, St. Olaf – 5385
10. Evan McNeil, Fr, Carleton – 5366
11. Andrew Ferguson, So, Hamline – 5293
12. Derek Rausch, Jr, Saint John’s – 5226
13. Nick Thies, Fr, Saint John’s – 5188
14. Caleb Giesen, Sr, Concordia – 5127
15. Tamas Peterson, Fr, St. Olaf – 5087
16. Nikolaj Hagen, Concordia – 4060
Final MIAC Heptathlon Standings
1. Kaari Jensen, Jr, Concordia – 4829
2. Erica Roelofs, Sr, Gustavus – 4256
3. Mandy Witschen, So, Saint Benedict – 4066
4. Georgia Cloepfil, Macalester – 3732
5. Olivia Decker, So, Concordia – 3569
6. Adrianne Acosta, So, Hamline – 3427
7. Keelie Sorenson, So, Hamline – 3253
8. Kayti Helm, So, Saint Benedict – 3138
9. Jule Muegge, Fr, Saint Catherine – 3088
10. Makayla Skluzacek, Fr, Saint Catherine – 2951
11. Jessica Marken, So, Concordia – 2658
12. Emily Hughes, So, St. Thomas – 2553
2012 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship Meet 