ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships don’t start until Friday afternoon, but thanks to Megan Sundstrom the College of Saint Benedict track and field team got a head start in both All-MIAC honorees and scoring points.
Sundstrom was one of four Blazers who competed at the MIAC Heptathlon Thursday and Friday, and her finish not only scored points for CSB, it also earned her All-MIAC Honorable Mention status and was one of the top five finishes in school history.
For her performance, Sundstrom has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week.
Sundstrom, a first year from Proctor, Minn., was in fifth after the first day of the heptathlon competition Thursday thanks to a pair of top-five finishes and one more top-10 finish. Her best finish was a third in the 200-meter dash in 25.98 seconds – the seventh-best time in CSB history and eighth-fastest time in the MIAC this season. She also took fifth in the 100 hurdles (16.01), ninth in the high jump (1.44 meters) and 13
th in the shot put (8.38).
Friday, Sundstrom added two more top-10 finishes to move up one spot to fourth place. She took fourth in the 800 in 2:21.35, seventh in the long jump with a mark of 4.69 meters and 11
th in the javelin with a throw of 22.92 meters.
Sundstrom’s final score of 4,116 and her fourth-place finish earned her All-MIAC Honorable Mention accolades. It is the third-best score in CSB outdoor history, and just 49 points off the school record score of 4,165, set in 2005 by Meghan Orgeman. Sundstrom’s score is also currently the 37
th-best heptathlon score in Division III.
Friday’s performance continues an impressive first season for Sundstrom. She was part of the Blazers’ MIAC championship distance medley relay team at the conference indoor championships, and she scored points in both the pentathlon and triple jump for CSB. She took seventh and just missed All-MIAC honors in the pentathlon, and finished eighth in the triple jump.
As well as having the third-best heptathlon score in CSB outdoor history, Sundstrom is currently ninth in school history in the 400-meter hurdles (66.56) and eighth in the triple jump (10.78 meters).
The Blazers compete Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, at the MIAC Outdoor Championships, hosted by Macalester in St. Paul, Minn. As well as Sundstrom’s points, CSB also heads into the championships with a few extra points thanks to sophomore Maria Kiminski, who finished eighth in the heptathlon. The official list of qualifiers will be announced later this week.
