DECORAH, Iowa – The Gustavus track & field team traveled to the Norse Invite, but the weather had other plans. Field events were mostly completed, with only the hammer throw, most of the women's shot put, and the men's discus being disrupted. On the track, repeated lightning strikes within eight miles, both before and during the men's 1500m, caused four delays and ultimately brought the meet to a halt. In the end, the Gusties stormed onto the results sheet even if the storm soaked up the spotlight.
Despite the unfortunate conditions, those who competed delivered strong performances, with several marks ranking highly in the conference and even nationally.
On the men's side,
Soren Sackreiter and
Evan Pouliot led the way on the track, placing second and third in the 10,000m with times of 33:21.73 and 33:42.47. In between lightning delays, a group of eight Gusties managed to take the track for the 1500m, where
Finnegan Rodefeld led the squad with a fourth-place finish in 4:31.39.
In the field,
Alex Palmer and
Joe Ream went one and two in the pole vault, clearing 4.15m and 4.00m.
Kyler Flunker continued his strong season with a first-place high jump of 1.95m, a mark that moves him to the top of the MIAC.
Liam Frommelt added another win in the long jump with a leap of 6.36m, followed closely by Flunker at 6.28m.
Logan Day rounded out the men's highlights with a second-place finish in the javelin at 44.13m.
For the women,
Molly Liston and
Anna Gould dominated the 10,000m, placing first and second in 40:23.24 and 40:23.50, ranking them third and fourth in the MIAC.
In the field events,
Maddox Lee opened with a third-place finish in the pole vault at 3.20m.
Kayla Kajer claimed first in the high jump with a clearance of 1.60m, moving her to the top of the conference standings, while
Kaylee Hawks followed with a third-place mark of 1.50m.
Ava Loftness highlighted the day with an impressive 11.53m triple jump, the fifth-best mark in Division III.
Adi Bye added a second-place finish in the event with a jump of 10.07m.
Anna Lacy opened her junior season in the javelin with a third-place throw of 35.48m, ranking second in the MIAC.
Olivia Duncan closed out the meet with a 42.84m throw in the discus, good for second place, first in the conference, and a top-15 mark nationally.
The Gusties return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Mankato for the Stomper Open.
