MANKATO, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's track and field team recorded eight top-three performances at the Bearson/Gathje Classic on Friday at Myers Field House on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Led by a first-place finish in the 3,000-meter run from senior
Will Kelly, St. Olaf compiled 116 points to finish third of four teams at the meet, trailing NCAA Division II programs Minnesota State and the University of Minnesota Duluth. Carleton College was the only other program at the meet but had just two entrants.
Kelly led a 1-2-3 finish for St. Olaf in the 3,000-meter run with a first-place time of 8:28.17, surpassing his previous PR by less than a second while bettering his seventh-best time on St. Olaf's all-time list. The senior's converted time of 8:22.33 ranks sixth in NCAA Division III this season.
Trailing only Kelly, sophomores
Kevin Turlington and
Parker Max rounded out the top-three sweep in the 3,000-meter urn for the Oles. Turlington eclipsed his previous personal-best time in the event by over 13 seconds with a second-place finish in 8:40.92, while Max shattered his prior PR with a third-place time of 8:41.40. Turlington and Max's times both rank in the top 25 in the country thus far.
St. Olaf added three more second-place finishes on the track, including a runner-up performance from senior
Demetri Lord in the 60-meter hurdles (8.58). Lord qualified for the finals with a time of 8.55 seconds in the prelims before rising to second in the final.
Sophomore
Cullen Moore took second in the 800-meter run in 1:58.37, finishing six-tenths of a second behind Finn Youberg of Minnesota Duluth with a top-30 time in the country. Fellow sophomore
Lance Nemecek was just over two seconds behind Moore in third (2:00.43).
In an all-Carleton-and-St. Olaf 1,000-meter run, sophomore
Owen Chamberlin was second (2:39.49) and senior
Gabe Estrada was third (2:39.52) to lead a 2-3-4-5-6 finish for the Oles. Sophomore
Ignatius Fitzgerald placed fourth in the one-mile run (4:24.97) and first year
Max Albertson took fifth in the 400-meter run (51.98) for other top-five finishes.
St. Olaf hosts meets each of the next two weekends, starting with the Ole Opener on Saturday, Jan. 20.
