NORTHFIELD, Minn. – First year Claire Stein became the St. Olaf College women's track and field team's second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) champion in the heptathlon as the two-day event concluded on Friday at Laird Stadium.

Facing a 102-point deficit heading into the final event, Stein completed a come-from-behind victory by taking second in the 800-meter run (2:26.13) to top the field of 18 competitors. Stein's total of 4,604 points was 93 more than Lauren Pearson of Concordia-Moorhead and saw the first year, who was competing in the event on her birthday, join Mackenzie Schoustra '20 as the second Ole to win the heptathlon.

Stein's score of 4,604 points also ranks second on St. Olaf's all-time list, trailing only the program record set by Julie Rademacher in 1992 (4,706 points), and ranks No. 17 in NCAA Division III this season. Stein started the day by taking a three-point lead in the standings by winning the long jump (5.42m, 17' 9 ½"), a jump that ranks seventh on the Oles' all-time list, before taking seventh in the javelin throw with a personal-best throw of 29.19 meters (95' 9") to fall 102 points behind Kalli Malvey of Concordia-Moorhead. Stein made up the gap and then some by falling less than one second off her PR in the 800-meter run.

After starting the day in 10th place, first year Svea Frantzich finished just outside the scoring positions by moving up one spot to ninth place with 3,939 points. Frantzich began the day by placing third in the long jump with a mark of 5.42 meters (17' 9 ½"), which ranks eight on St. Olaf's all-time list, to rise two spots to eighth. She concluded the day by coming up less than one second shy of her PR in the 800-meter run (2:35.78).

First year Annika Walsh used a sixth-place performance and personal-best mark in the long jump (5.06m, 16' 7 ¼") to move up to sixth place before controversially fouling on her three attempts in the javelin throw to fall out of scoring contention. Walsh capped the event with a near nine-second PR in the 800-meter run (2:40.48).

Senior Claire Keech topped her previous personal-best heptathlon score by eight points to take 13th with 3,712 points. Keech's top finish on Friday was a fourth-place result in the javelin throw (32.98m, 108' 2").

In its final meet before the rest of the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, St. Olaf will host the Ole Outdoor Open on Saturday, May 2 starting at noon at Manitou Track. Stein's first-place finish gave St. Olaf 10 points in the team standings, which put the Oles in second, 11 behind Concordia-Moorhead, heading into the rest of the meet next weekend.