NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's track and field teams will host the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday at Manitou Track.
For the first time since 2014, the Oles will compete in the outdoor conference meet at their home facility, as both teams look to replicate or improve off their runner-up finishes at the MIAC Indoor Championships in late February. The two-day meet will begin with field events at 2 p.m. and track events at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, field events will begin at noon and track events at 1:30 p.m.
SPECTATOR INFORMATION
Daily tickets are required to attend the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. All tickets will be sold and purchased online via HomeTown Ticketing.
There will not be cash sales at the venue; however, spectators can purchase tickets using a mobile device at any time, including while at the venue. Tickets are available for purchase on the
MIAC's HomeTown Ticketing site.
Single-day adult tickets will be $13, and student tickets are $4. (Note: additional HomeTown Ticketing convenience and credit card fees will be added during checkout, with estimated totals being $13.70 for adult / $4.43 for student per single-day ticket.) Children ages five and under do not require a ticket. Those eligible for student tickets include individuals currently enrolled in college, high school, middle school, and elementary school. Student ID is required where applicable.
Spectators traveling to Northfield are encouraged to review the
campus parking map. Primary parking will be in the Lower Lincoln lot, with overflow parking in the grass at the bottom of Old Main Hill. Concessions will be available for purchase near Porter Hall on the west end of the track.
Fans unable to attend in person will be able to follow the action with live updates via
Hero's Timing. Select events will also be streamed live on the
MIAC Sports Network. A full slate of links and information can be found on the
championship home page.
WOMEN'S EVENTS/ATHLETES TO WATCH
St. Olaf has top-five seeds in 11 different events, excluding relays where seed times are largely non-existent across the board. Sophomore
Izzi Jaeckle is the lone Ole to hold at least two top-three seeds, doing so in the 200-meter dash (2nd, 25.29) and 400-meter dash (3rd, 56.98).
Senior
Isabel Wyatt, last year's champion, and first year
Cora DenHartog are seeded second (2:11.94) and third (2:12.48), respectively, in the 800-meter run. After winning the conference title in the heptathlon last week, first year
Claire Stein as the No. 2 seed in the 100-meter hurdles (14.83) and the No. 5 seed in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.68).
In the field events, St. Olaf has a trio of No. 2 seeds, including senior
Ashlyn Jore in the long jump (5.60m). Jore was the indoor champion in the event this year. Junior
Otelia Lighthill is the No. 2 seed in the discus throw (41.83), while first year
Abby Frei has the No. 2 clearance in the pole vault (3.62m) entering the meet.
MEN'S EVENTS/ATHLETES TO WATCH
As usual, St. Olaf's strength lies in the distance events, led by senior
Kevin Turlington, who is the top seed in the 5,000-meter run (14:01.93) and 10,000-meter run (29:17.58). Turlington is in search of his first individual outdoor conference title after sweeping the 3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run titles indoors this season.
Turlington leads groups of Oles that make up seven of the top-10 seeds in the 5,000-meter run and seven of the top-11 entries in the 10,000-meter run. Senior
Gael Manzur Strandlund is seeded in the top four of both events.
St. Olaf will look to defend its conference crown in the 4x800-meter relay, while also boasting the top-four seeds in the 800-meter run. After all four were national qualifiers in the event indoors, senior
Cullen Moore (1:51.51), junior
Christian Fells (1:51.62), senior
Lance Nemecek (1:52.36), and first year
Paxon Myers (1:52.98) are the top-four entries in the 800, with Nemecek seeking his second consecutive MIAC title in the event.
In the field events, junior
Max Albertson holds the top seed for any Ole as the No. 2 seed in the long jump (7.20m). Albertson has won a pair of MIAC titles in the event indoors, including being the co-champion this season.
