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SMU at Pre-MIAC, St. Olaf Invite Friday, Feb. 24 |
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Weinmann, Roche lead Cardinals' charge in final tune-up for MIAC
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Carleton Pre-MIAC Meet — one last chance for the Saint Mary's University track and field teams to tune-up for next weekend's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.
And tune up the Cardinals did.
Amanda Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.) broke her own school record — and improved her NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships provisional-qualifying mark — in winning the shot put, while Dan Gerber (Belvidere, Ill.) and Beth Cleveland (Wausau, Wis.) also added first-place finishes for the Cardinals.
Weinmann, who provisionally qualified for the indoor national championships a week ago with a then-school record toss of 12.94 meters, uncorked a throw of 13.10 meters on Friday to lead a 1-2-4-5 SMU charge in the shot put event.
While her fellow teammates were busy putting together the finishing touches on their final MIAC workouts, Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) and a handful of Cardinal athetes were doing the same across town at the St. Olaf Invitational.
With similar results.
Roche became SMU's sixth NCAA provisional qualifier, as the Cardinal junior clocked a time of 58.64 in the 400 meters to join Weinmann, Beth Cleveland (Wausau, Wis.), Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.), Emily Bartusek (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Megan Mason (Rochester, Minn.) on the nation's provisional qualifier list.
Valk improved on her provisional-qualifying time in the 55 hurdles, breaking the school mark with a time of 8.44, while Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) shattered the school record in the 1,000 (2:59.63), then teamed with Bartusek, Valk and Roche to set a new school mark in the 4 x 400 relay, stopping the clock in 4:02.84.
"Breaking four school records and adding another NCAA qualifier — not to mention improving on two current (provisional) marks — is a great way to go into the conference championships," said SMU coach Kirk Nauman. "We had so many great performances (Friday) — at both meets — which is encouraging at this stage in the season."
Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.), fresh off another stellar season as the leader of the SMU women's basketball team, finished second to Weinmann in the shot at the Pre-MIAC Meet, posting a throw of 12.30 meters, while Ember Anderson (Blackduck, Minn.) was fourth (12.21 meters) and Cleveland was fifth (11.64 meters).
Cleveland fueled a sweep of the top three places in the weight throw with her toss of 14.56 meters, with Weinmann taking second (14.31 meters) and Anderson placing third (14.02 meters). Mason chipped in a third-place effort in the high jump (1.55 meters),
Gerber led the charge on the men's side, winning the 200 with a time of 23.44, while also posting a third-place time of 53.05 in the 400. Chris Fisette (Elmhurst, Ill.) placed second in the long jump (6.27 meters) and third in the triple jump (12.60 meters), while Jerod Baertsch (Winona, Minn.) added a fourth in the 600 (1:30.03).
"I'm excited to see where the MIAC meet will take us," said Nauman. "We've had a great indoor season, and hopefully the momentum we've built up over the last severall weeks will carry over into (the MIAC Championships)."