St. Scholastica wins seventh straight UMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship
Final Results
By Jesse Robinson
MORRIS, Minn. – For the seventh straight year, the St. Scholastica women's track & field team won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The Saints won with 313 points. The host, University of Minnesota, Morris was second with 174 points. CSS Head Coach Kirk Nauman was named the UMAC Women's Coach of the Year.
CSS won 14 of the 20 events and broke a total of seven UMAC meet records and six program records. The Saints won seven of the eight field events. Rachel Miller (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS), who was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Meet, won the triple jump with a distance of 37'-8.75” (11.50m) to break a UMAC Meet record. That distance was a NCAA Division III provisional mark, but it was not better than her school record distance earlier this season. Miller was also second in the javelin throw with a distance of 118'-0” (35.98m).
A Saint that hit a provisional mark and broke a school and UMAC meet record was Becky Huberty (Lena, Wis./Lena HS) in the shot put with toss of 42'-10.25” (13.06m), bettering the old mark by 78 centimeters. Huberty is the fourth CSS female to meet a NCAA provisional this outdoor season.
Rachel Thelen (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids HS) won the pole vault and broke a program record, clearing a height of 10'-0.75” (3.07m). Mariah Berg (Bagley, Minn./Bagley HS) set a UMAC meet record by winning the long jump at 16'-10” (5.13m). Katie Kimm (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) won the high jump, clearing a height of 4'-11.5” (1.51m).
Another UMAC meet record fell when Katie Walrath (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln HS) placed first in the discus and broke her won school record with a distance of 127'-10” (38.98m). The last field event winner was Alec Seeley (Cadott, Wis./Cadott HS) in the hammer throw with a toss of 138'-9” (42.31m).
In running events, the Saints swept all three relays. The 4x100-meter team of Katlin Krause (Motley, Minn./Pillager HS), Katie Walrath (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln HS), Rachel Thelen (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids HS), and Maria Valesano (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park HS) won with a UMAC meet record time of 50:09 seconds.
The 4x400-meter team of Hallie Miller (Waconia, Minn./Waconia HS), Nikki Hughes (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern HS), Kaylee Gombold (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS), and Katherine Mueller (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd HS) posted a winning time of 4:07.09 seconds.
Finally, the 4x800 team of Hallie Miller (Waconia, Minn./Waconia HS), Chelsea Johnson (North Branch, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS), Breanna Adams (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), and Stacey Gustafson (Merrifield, Minn./Crosby-Ironton HS) won and a broke a six-year school and UMAC record at 10:15.09 seconds.
Rachel Thelen (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids HS) broke the school 100-meter dash record in prelims at 12.74 seconds, but that was broken by Valesano in the finals as she finished with a time of 12.70 seconds.
Hallie Miller (Waconia, Minn./Waconia HS) won the 400-meter dash finishing at 1:00.36 seconds. Hughes won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.59 seconds to also break at UMAC meet record.
Melissa Kempenich (Little Falls, Minn./Little Falls HS) was first in the 5,000-meter run, posting a time of 19:12.27 seconds. Tina Ewing (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS) was second in that event at 20:28.28 seconds.
The last winner on the day was Brea Durovec (Meadowlands, Minn./Floodwood HS) in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.31 seconds. Shelbie Johnson (New Prague, Minn. /New Prague HS (Minn.-Duluth)) was second in that event at 1:09.24 seconds. Durovec was also runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.78 seconds.