The Johnnie track and field team ends the regular season with a “last-chance” qualifier at Wisconsin-La Crosse today (Thursday, May 16). Field events begin at 4 p.m., followed by competition on the track at 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's finished second out of 11 teams at the two-day MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 11 in St. Paul. The host Tommies won the meet with a total of 186 points, followed by SJU (116), Bethel (103.5) and St. Olaf (93.5). The Johnnies tallied 10 top-five finishes on Saturday alone.
Freshman Thomas Feichtinger (Omaha, Neb./Mount Michael Benedictine) won SJU's third individual MIAC title of the meet with a time of 2:00.43 in the 800 meters on Saturday. Junior John Subialka (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) became the 12th Johnnie since 1980, and the first since Kelly Fermoyle went back-to-back in 2007-08, to win the MIAC title in the 10,000 meters with a time of 31:50.42 on Friday. The Johnnies' 4x800-meter relay, which consists of Feichtinger, senior Eric Mann (Woodbury, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), sophomores Chris Mergens (Farmington, Minn./Rosemount) and Kyle Rossow (St. Louis Park, Minn./Hopkins) won the MIAC title by four seconds over St. Olaf in 7:45.60.
Senior Kevin Horton (Eagan, Minn.) earned a pair of All-MIAC (top three) honors with a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash (22.08) and a third-place time (48.895) in the 400 meters, .006 from second and .25 from the title. He ended his collegiate career as a six-time All-MIAC honoree (two indoor, four outdoor).
Senior Derek Rausch (White Bear Lake, Minn.) earned All-MIAC distinction in third with a time of 15.51 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, 0.30 from the title.
The Johnnies' 4x400-meter relay missed the conference title by only 0.25 to finish second. The relay consisted of Feichtinger, Horton and sophomores Jake Lammi (Marine on St. Croix, Minn./Stillwater Area) and Jordan Tradewell (Cedar, Minn./St. Francis).
Four Johnnies just missed All-MIAC honors with fourth-place finishes on Saturday. Senior Ruairi Moynihan (Fargo, N.D./South) finished 0.20 of a second behind third in the 1,500 meters (4:11.37), while junior Taylor Nauman (Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace) placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (55.78), 0.39 from third. Sophomore David Kahat (Lino Lakes, Minn./Mounds View) missed third by only .04 meters in the javelin (53.48 meters). Senior Andrew Calascione (Parker, Colo./Chaparal) claimed seventh (50.70 meters).
Junior Rob Sybrant (Shakopee, Minn.) claimed fourth with a throw of 14.40 meters, 0.35 from third, in the shot put. Senior Jack Hedlund (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) and junior Brian Vargason (Owatonna, Minn.) followed in sixth (13.86 meters) and ninth (13.59 meters), respectively. Lammi took fifth (49.59) in the 400 meters and junior Willie Versen (Hopkins, Minn.) finished seventh in the steeplechase (10:01.41).
On Friday, Senior Tyler Martin (Glencoe, Minn./Glencoe-Silver Lake) claimed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 6.45 meters, while freshman Zach Roy (Andover, Minn.) finished close behind in seventh (6.40 meters). Vargason (Owatonna, Minn.) took sixth in the discus (42.76 meters) and sophomore Ben Rossini (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) ended in eighth (40.34 meters). Hedlund and junior Kyle Gronbeck (Moorhead, Minn.) finished eighth (44.15 meters) and ninth (43.45 meters) in the hammer throw, respectively.
TOP TWO: The Johnnies have now finished in the top two at the conference's outdoor meet in nine of the last 11 seasons, including three championships (2005, 2007 and 2011).
NATIONAL CUT: The top 20 marks/times in each event advance to the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships May 23-25 in La Crosse, Wis. Horton is currently 35th in the 400 meters (48.58), .38 from 20th (48.20). Feichtinger's time to beat in the 800 meters is 1:52.55.
