ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After a tumultuous start to the 2019 outdoor season, the College of Saint Benedict track and field team's schedule - and the weather - got back on track in late April and May. After a flurry of activity to wrap up the regular season, the team is ready for the 2019 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
 
CSB qualified 33 different individuals in 18 events for the two-day conference meet, which is hosted by St. Thomas Friday and Saturday, May 10-11, in St. Paul. Field events start at 2 p.m. each day. Track events start at 2 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday.
 
Senior Morgan Pierce heads into the final conference meet of her career looking to add another MIAC title – or two – to her already impressive resume. Pierce heads into the conference meet ranked second in the league in the 10K with a time of 37:07.24, and third in the 5K with a tie of 17:56.92. Heading into conference, Pierce is four seconds away from CSB's 5K record and three seconds away from the 10K record. She is currently ranked 37^th in the nation in the 10K.
 
After finishing second at the MIAC Heptathlon to give CSB an eight-point head start in scoring at the conference meet, senior Jenna Degen is ranked in the top 10 in three events at this weekend's meet. Her top event is the 100 hurdles, where she heads into the meet ranked third with a time of 15.74 seconds. She also has the seventh-best javelin mark, ninth-best long jump mark in the MIAC and is ranked 11^th in the high jump.
 
Senior Haley Anderson qualified for the conference meet in the hammer throw, shot put and discus, and is ranked in the top 10 in all three. Her best event is the shot put, where she is ranked sixth. Claire Baker heads into conference ranked sixth in the hammer, and Sarah Gigstad – who also qualified in all three throwing events – is eighth in the hammer.
 
All five of CSB's pole vaulters qualified for conference, and sophomore Elisabeth Dalki and junior Lee Stelten are both in the top six. Dalki has the third-best vault in the MIAC so far this season at 3.43 meters, and Stelten is sixth with a mark of 3.30 meters.
 
First year Stephanie Pickthorn – who also competed in the MIAC Heptathlon – has the sixth-best triple jump mark in the MIAC at 10.57 meters. Sophomore Kelly Klingelhutz has the ninth-best 400 time and is seeded 12^th in the 200, and first year Abby Goff is seeded ninth in the 1,500.
 
Saint Benedict took third at the 2018 outdoor championships, and is looking to improve on its eighth-place finish from the 2019 indoor meet.