WAVERLY, Iowa/LA CROSSE, Wis. – The St. Olaf College men's track and field team's distance medley relay broke the program record as the team sent competitors to the Wartburg and UW-La Crosse NCAA Final Qualifiers on Friday and Saturday.
The quartet of sophomore
Jackson Bullock, first year
Aidan McKeever, senior
Cullen Moore, and senior
Kevin Turlington broke the nine-year-old program record in the DMR with a third-place time of 9:56.13 on Friday night at Wartburg's Hoover Fieldhouse. On Saturday, four Oles ran in the 800-meter run in Waverly, while two competed in the long jump in La Crosse.
The two meets served as the final opportunities for student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, with the top 20 performances in the country qualifying for the national meet.
Bullock, McKeever, Moore, and Turlington topped the previous school record of 9:59.09 set by Sean Bjork, Joey Pugh, Sean Lonergan, and Joe Coffey in 2017, as Turlington helped the relay move up from sixth to third with one lap to go. The No. 20 DMR in the country entering the weekend had a time of 10:00.92, pending results of other final qualifiers across the country.
Junior
Christian Fells paced the four Oles who ran in the 800-meter run on Saturday, coming in third in 1:53.55. Fells was fourth going into the final lap before running a 28.4-second final lap to win heat five. First year
Paxon Myers had the fifth-fastest time of the day (1:53.67), sophomore McInturff took seventh (1:53.99), and senior
Lance Nemecek was 17th (1:56.18). Nemecek carried the No. 18 time in the country into the meet, while the other three were looking to top 1:51.60 to crack the top 20.
In La Crosse, junior
Max Albertson was the runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 6.85 meters (22' 5 ¾") on his third attempt. Sophomore
Rik Cumps placed ninth on the day with a mark of 6.35 meters (20' 10") on his fourth try. The No. 20 mark in the country coming in was 7.18 meters (23' 6 ¾").
The qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships will be announced on Sunday, March 8.
