The Result
SMU men 11th at MIAC Championships
SMU women 7th at MIAC Championships
Complete Men's Meet Results
Complete Women's Meet Results
in leading SMU women to best finish in school history
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — As the Saint Mary’s University track and field teams completed preparations for the season-ending MIAC Indoor Championships last week, SMU coach Paul Thornton knew his team had the potential to make this year’s conference meet something special.
The key, however, would be transforming that potential into actual results.
It’s safe to say that, after watching his women’s team record a season-high six school-record performances en route to a school-best seventh-place finish, this year’s MIAC meet truly was special.
And, just to add a little icing on the cake, Thornton also got to witness another first — the crowning of not one, but two SMU individual conference champions.
Kari Pederson (Hastings, Minn.) was crowned MIAC champion in the 55 meters, clocking a school-record time of 7.43 in the process, while Lindsay Smith (Elma, Iowa) earned the honor of the conference’s best in the weight throw with a school-record toss of 47-4 1/4.
“It was a great, great meet,” admitted Thornton, whose women’s team finished with 46.5 points, the most ever by an SMU team. “One of the coaches I was talking to after the meet said that our program is much improved over last year, which is a testament to the hard work that these individuals have been putting in.”
Along with her first-place effort in the 55, Pederson also nailed all-conference honors with her second-place showings in the 200 (26.72 and a school record) and the long jump (17-4).
Clara Setzer (Red Wing, Minn.) broke the school mark in the pentathlon (2,701 points), while the 4 x 400 relay team of Pederson, Setzer, Theresa Miller (New Berlin, Wis.) and Elizabeth Munn (Tinley Park, Ill.), and the distance medley team of Miller, Setzer, Munn and Melissa Narum (Mabel, Minn.) notched school-record times of 4:14.56 and 13:58.15, respectively.
They may not have been able to steal any other their female counterparts’ thunder, but the SMU men did turn in a rather solid showing.
Chris Beach (Maple Grove, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, shattering the school mark in the pentathlon (2,960), while also joining Jon Bell (Ogden, Utah), Rick Schostag (Golden Valley, Minn.) and Jim Baertsch (Winona, Minn.) in a record-setting effort in the 4 x 400 relay, where the foursome posted a time of 3:34.68 to finish 10th.
“It was a solid performance (from the men’s team),” Thornton said. “Overall, I’m very pleased with everyone’s effort. To come home with two conference champions and eight school records, that’s outstanding.
“We’ve still got a ways to go, but this was certainly a step in the right direction.”
Make that a giant leap.