NORTHFIELD, Minn. – In its first home indoor meet in nearly two years, the St. Olaf College men's track and field team won eight events and had nine runner-up finishes at the Ole Opener on Friday evening at the Tostrud Center.

St. Olaf won four events on the track and four field events at the unscored meet, which was the team's first home indoor meet since the Tostrud Classic on Feb. 22, 2020. The Oles had five student-athletes either break into the program's all-time top-10 list or improve their standing on the list in the meet, while seniors Reuben Kosche and Stephen Peper posted top-five national performances as well.

Peper posted NCAA Division III's second-highest clearance in the high jump this season by clearing 2.05 meters (6' 8 ¾") on his first attempt to win the event and move up to fifth on St. Olaf's all-time list in the event. The clearance trails only Kyle Rollins of St. John Fisher this season after Rollins cleared 2.17 meters (7' 1 ½") back in December.

Kosche ran the country's fourth-fastest mile this season to win the event in 4:18.99, finishing 10 seconds ahead of junior Noah Massanari. The time was a personal best for the senior by nearly seven seconds, as the Oles had five of the top-six finishers in the event.

In the 60-meter hurdles, three Oles improved their standing on the program's all-time list, as St. Olaf had the top-three finishers in the event. Sophomore Demetri Lord won the event with a time of 8.76 seconds in the finals and his prelims time of 8.63 seconds moved him up to third in program history in the event. Senior Nick Edwards jumped up to sixth on the list with a time of 8.84 seconds in the prelims, while sophomore Matthew Nissen rose to ninth with a prelims time of 9.09 seconds before finishing as the runner-up to Lord with a time of 9.30 seconds in the finals.

St. Olaf had the top-two relays in the 4x400-meter relay, with the unit of Kosche, Massanari, junior Julian Munoz, and senior Henrik Gilbertson edge the quartet of first years Tyler Gunderson, Otto Schmidt, Sean Hartney, and Henry Kraatz by 0.16 seconds with a time of 3:38.44. Gilbertson also won the 800-meter run in 2:03.20, ahead of three of his teammates.

The Oles also got wins in field events from junior Sean Souksavath in the triple jump (12.34 meters, 40' 6"), junior Andrew Mollison in the shot put (13.75m, 45' 1 ½"), and first year Trevor Christensen in the weight throw (14.45m, 47' 5"). First year Dylan Arnold cracked St. Olaf's all-time top-10 list in the 60-meter dash, finishing as the runner-up in 7.25 seconds.

Next up for St. Olaf is the Carleton Triangular on Friday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. Per Carleton campus policy, no spectators are permitted to attend the meet.