BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sophomore
Sofia Carlson earned All-America honors in the 5,000-meter run, as three members of the St. Olaf College women's track and field team ran distance events on the opening day of the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday at the Birmingham Crossplex.
In her first national meet in track and field, Carlson placed seventh and broke her own school record in the 5,000-meter run to record the program's first indoor All-America finish since 2018. The All-America accolade was the first of Carlson's career across both cross country and track and field and earned St. Olaf two points in the team standings, leaving the Oles in a tie for 26th place through six scored events on day one.
Carlson's time of 16:57.68 broke her own program record of 17:05.94 established earlier this season at the Mark Schuck Open and Multi in late-January, as the sophomore held down one of the All-America spots (top eight) for the final two-thirds of the race. Prior to Friday, St. Olaf's last indoor All-America performance was the distance medley relay of Jena Moody '18, Katie Elstad '21, Abby Stets '18, and Jordan Lutz '18 in 2018 (sixth) and the last Ole to earn individual All-America honors indoors was Dani Larson's seventh-place finish in the pentathlon in 2015.
Fellow sophomore
Alison Bode joined Carlson on the national stage in the 5,000-meter run and finished 14th (17:21.17) after using a 36-second split on the final lap to move up two spots. Fourteenth marked the highest standing for Bode at the end of any of the 25 laps of the event. Bode and Carlson were St. Olaf's first national qualifiers in the event since Mary Naas '19 placed 15th in 2017.
Competing in her first national track and field meet following an All-American cross country season, senior
Christine Albrecht placed 20th in the one-mile run, crossing the line in 5:09.24. St. Olaf has had national qualifiers in the event in each of the last two seasons after
Ellen Mickelson '22 was 12th in the event a year ago.
The Oles are scheduled to open the outdoor season at the CSB/SJU Invitational in Collegeville on Thursday, April 6.
