NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's track and field team compiled 50 points to sit in second place after day one of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday at Manitou Track.

Led by three first-place finishes in event finals, St. Olaf sat 3.5 points ahead of No. 10-ranked Bethel University and 14 points behind Saint John's University after the opening day of the two-day meet. Day two will begin with field events at noon and track events at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9.

Senior Kevin Turlington won his first individual outdoor MIAC title to lead a haul a of 21 points in the event for the Oles with a winning time of 30:59.28. That time was good for a facility record, breaking the previous record of 31:02.37 set by Jeff Renlund of the University of St. Thomas back in 1994.

Senior Gael Manzur Strandlund also eclipsed Rendlund's record with a runner-up finish in 31:00.45 and earned All-MIAC honors as he finished with a 67-second final lap to close in on Turlington. Sophomore Cooper Gundersen (7th, 32:17.43) and first year Evan Goddard (8th, 32:31.65) also scored in the event for St. Olaf.

Junior Max Albertson added an outdoor conference title to his two indoor titles in the long jump, winning the event with a leap of 7.28 meters (23' 10 ¾") on the second-to-last jump of the competition. Albertson's mark was the second-farthest jump in program history and ranks No. 14 in NCAA Division III this season, putting him in the national-qualifying spots.

Sophomore Jackson Bullock, sophomore Aaron Ruesink, senior Zach Martin, and sophomore Austin McInturff earned St. Olaf a second consecutive conference crown in the 4x800-meter relay with a facility-record time of 7:40.85. McInturff completed the relay by passing Bethel's anchor leg in the final strides to give the Oles the win by 1.03 seconds with the program's No. 3 all-time time.

Sophomore Garrett Seppanen posted an Honorable Mention All-MIAC finish in the 1,500-meter run by taking sixth in a personal-best time of 3:55.04, while Bullock also scored in eighth (3:56.84). Senior Max Thomas (7th, 47.15m) and junior Jesse Olson (8th, 47.13m) added points to the Oles' total in the javelin throw as well.

St. Olaf had six of the nine finals qualifiers in the 800-meter run, as senior Lance Nemecek (1:53.18), first year Paxon Myers (1:53.83), senior Cullen Moore (1:54.71), junior Christian Fells (1:57.48), sophomore Jameson Drieslein (1:57.52), and first year Trigg Heimdal (1:47.63) all booked their spots in Saturday's final in the prelims.

First year Aidan McKeever and sophomore Cristian Escobar Pearson locked up spots in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles with top-six times of 55.72 seconds and 56.19 seconds, while Albertson moved on in the 100-meter dash with the No. 8 qualifying time (10.95).