ST. PAUL, Minn. – Led by a first conference title in the 4x800-meter relay in 25 years, the St. Olaf College women's track and field team was second in the team standings after the first day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday at Klas Field.
First year
Siri Erickson, senior
Sophie Call, senior
Kristina Rohrer, and junior
Sophie Abernethy gave St. Olaf its first MIAC title in the 4x800-meter relay since 1999 with a nearly nine-second victory to highlight the opening day. The Oles compiled four All-MIAC performances (places 1-3) and five Honorable Mention All-MIAC showings (places 4-6) on the day to sit second with 57.83 points in the team standings. St. Olaf trailed the College of Saint Benedict by 2.5 points through eight scored events.
Erickson, Call, Rohrer, and Abernethy outpaced the rest of the field in the 4x800-meter relay by nearly nine seconds with a winning time of 9:30.93. The second-place quartet from Carleton College was second in 9:39.68. Abernethy's 2:21.06 split on the anchor leg was the fastest in the field for the junior, who also posted an individual honorable-mention result by placing fifth in the 1,500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:45.86.
Junior
Alison Bode collected her second All-MIAC accolade in a row in the 10,000-meter run by finishing as the runner-up in 35:50.80, trailing only the meet record of 34:15.01 set by Fiona Smith of Saint Ben's. Bode was third in the event last season. Sophomore
Lauren Walda gave St. Olaf 12 points in the event with her second consecutive fifth-place performance in the 10K by crossing the line in 36:56.96.
Coming off a third-place result in the event indoors, first year
Mara Larson was part of a three-way tie for second in the high jump after clearing 1.58 meters (5' 2 ¼") to add an outdoor All-MIAC accolade to her indoor honor. Sophomore
Ashlyn Jore was fourth in the event with a personal-best clearance of 1.53 meters (5' ¼") and added a second honorable-mention result with a fourth-place performance in the long jump (5.43m, 17' 9 ¾"). Jore's mark in the long jump was the best of her career and ranked in a tie for fifth on St. Olaf's all-time list.
In her first conference meet, first year
Graycee Roubinek shattered her previous personal-best mark in the discus throw and earned All-MIAC honors with a third-place toss of 39.55 meters (129' 9"). The distance was over eight feet farther than her previous top mark and was good for eighth on St. Olaf's all-time list. Sophomore
Aries Mendez and first year
Elise Harriman gave the Oles three scorers by finishing sixth (38.07m, 124' 11") and seventh (37.52m, 123' 1"), respectively, with Mendez picking up Honorable Mention All-MIAC laurels in the process.
St. Olaf also had 10 individuals qualify for Saturday's finals in five events, highlighted by sophomore
Isabel Wyatt and first year
Nora Mickelson running the day's top times in the prelims of the 800-meter run.
