ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Robin Balder-Lanoue knew that her College of Saint Benedict track and field athletes had the potential to put together some big performances over the weekend – but even she couldn’t have guessed just how big some of those performances would be.
In two meets over the weekend, the Bennies broke three school records and recorded seven other times or marks in the top 10 in program history – along with numerous career-best times or marks. For its impressive weekend, the CSB track and field team is this week’s CSB Team of the Week.
The action started Friday for the Bennies as Balder-Lanoue took Fiona Smith, Tracy Renier and Bridget Tetmeyer to run a 5K against Division I and II competition in Brookings, S.D. The trio came home later that night with a school record and two top-10 times in program history after impressive races from all three. Smith smashed her own school 5K record and became the first Bennie to break 17 minutes in the event after finishing in 16:35.24. That time is also currently the second-fastest time in Division III.
Renier and Tetmeyer both moved into the top 10 in the event and also had impressive races. Renier ran a career-best time of more than a minute and moved up into ninth in program history in 18:22.39, and Tetmeyer moved into 10
th in the event in 18:31.28 in her first time racing an indoor 5K.
The fast times didn’t stop there. Saturday afternoon at the team’s second home meet of the season, two more school records went down and five more times or marks moved athletes up or into the top 10 in CSB indoor history.
The second record of the weekend was broken in the 60-meter dash prelims when sophomore Kate Gallagher finished in 7.94 seconds – one-hundredth of a second faster than the school record. A short time later in the throws area, senior Maggie Beckmann broke the school record in the weight throw by nearly a meter. Her winning toss of 16.20 meters was also a personal-best by more than one meter.
Sophomore Tiana Johnson moved into the top 10 in two events. She won the 200 in 26.14 seconds – a career-best time and the second-best time in program history – and finished behind Gallagher in the 60 in 8.03 seconds. That time is the fifth-best in CSB history – in her first time competing in the event. Senior Dacoda Speidel ran an 8.06 – the sixth-best time in CSB history.
Haley Joos also had a big day in the weight throw as she recorded a toss of 12.98 meters – tied for the 10
th-best mark in CSB history – and Stephanie Pickthron recorded a career-best mark of 10.80 meters in the triple jump, the ninth-best mark in school history. First year Justus Floren finished one centimeter shy of cracking the top 10 in the high jump as she won the event with a leap of 1.55 meters.
The Bennies have one more meet left before the 2022 MIAC Indoor Championships. They head to Northfield Friday, Feb. 18, for the St. Olaf Invite starting at 4:30 p.m.
