St. Cloud State Track & Field Prepares for First Meet of 2024

Friday, January 12

St. Paul, Minn.

2 P.M. CT (Field) | 4:30 P.M. CT (Track)

St. Cloud State

St. Thomas Invitational

Photo by: Thomas Breach

St. Cloud State Track & Field Prepares for First Meet of 2024

1/11/2024 3:05:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

Huskies travel to St. Paul for the St. Thomas Invitational

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Track & Field returns to action for its first meet of 2024 with the St. Thomas Invitational on Friday in the AARC Fieldhouse in St. Paul. The meet will begin at 2 p.m. with throwing events, jumps will start at 3 p.m. and the running events will get started at 4:30 p.m.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Admission to the meet is free. The met will be streamed live on the Summit League Network (note – a Midco Sports Plus subscription is required). Live results will be provided by Fast Finish Results.

HUSKIES IN THE MEET
60 meters (prelims – 4:40 p.m.|finals – 6:25 p.m.) – Katie Lavato, Elena Martinez-Rodriguez, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
200 meters (6:50 p.m.) – Makaylin Christenson, Katie Lavato, Elena Martinez-Rodriguez, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Myesha Thompson, Trinity Wallendal, Ava Wilmanns
400 meters (6:15 p.m.) – Makaylin Christenson
800 meters (6:35 p.m.) – Mariana Guerra-Reese
Mile (5 p.m.) – Paige Beason, Tegan Michalak
3,000 meters (7:30 p.m.) – Erica Conrad, Alena Donahue, Greta Freed, Cambrie Kowal
60 hurdles (5:50 p.m.) – Shelby Romig, Trinity Wallendal
Long jump (5 p.m.) – Elena Martinez-Rodriguez, Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
Shot put (~ 5:30 p.m.) – Alicia Jennissen, Savannah Reinke
Weight throw (2 p.m.) – Alicia Jennissen, Savannah Reinke

LAST TIME OUT
The Huskies began their 2023-24 indoor season at St. Scholastica and the CSS Opener on Dec. 9, 2023, at the Burns Wellness Commons in Duluth, Minn. SCSU had six top-five individual finishes and there were no team scores kept.

11 athletes made their Huskies Track & Field debut. Those athletes included freshmen: Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa), Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.), Alicia Jennissen (Sauk Centre, Minn.), Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.), Mady Muehr (Greendale, Wis.), Savannah Reinke (Carrollton, Mo.), Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) and Trinity Wallendal (Fon du Lac, Wis.) and transfers: sophomore Hannah Little (Grimes, Iowa), senior Elena Martinez-Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain) and senior Viola Okey-Ezealah (Lagos, Nigeria).

Senior sprinter Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.) advanced to the 60-meter dash finals and ran a person record time of 7.81 to place third. Lavato also placed third in the 200-meter dash, running a time of 26.81. Junior middle distance runner Makaylin Christenson (Prarie Farm, Wis.) placed third in the 400-meter dash running 1:03.16. Fifth-year distance runner Mariana Guerra-Reese (White Bear Lake, Minn.) was second in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:38.84. Junior hurdler Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa) was fifth both the 60-meter hurdle prelims and final. Freshman Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) was fourth in the long jump, jumping 5.15m (16-10.75) in her Huskies debut.

PRESEASON POLLING
St. Cloud State Track & Field was selected to finish 11^th in the 2023-24 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Indoor Preseason Coaches' Poll. SCSU has finished top-10 at the NSIC Indoor Championships in 14 of their 15 seasons as a member institution since joining the conference ahead of the 2008-09 season.

NEW LEADER OF THE PACK
Gabrielle Brown is in her first season as SCSU's head Track & Field/Cross Country coach. A three-time All-American
hurdler at Hamline, Brown joins St. Cloud State after three seasons as an assistant coach at Macalester. She is the first Black female head coach in the history of St. Cloud State Athletics.

ATHLETES TO WATCH
Senior sprinter Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.) was named as the Huskies' Track Athlete to Watch. Lavato set her 60-meter dash personal best last year at the Gopher Classic (7.88), winning the event. She ran a season-best 26.50 in the 200-meter dash at the Maverick Invitational. Lavato finished the 2022-23 indoor season with five top-five event finishes and competed in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x400 meter relay at the 2023 NSIC Indoor Championships. "Katie has been a huge part of the success the Huskies have had historically," said Brown, "Her time, efforts, persistence, and talents will set her up for a great competitive year ahead.

Senior jumper Elena Martinez-Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain) was recognized as the SCSU Field Athlete to Watch. Martinez-Rodriguez joins the Huskies this season after transferring from Georgian Court, an NCAA Division II school in Lakewood, N.J. Last indoor season for the Lions, she complied four top-five finishes and scored points in four events at the East Coast Conference (ECC) Indoor Championships. She finished fourth in high jump (1.50m/4-11), sixth in long jump (4.88m/16-0.25) and sixth in triple jump (10.53m/34-6.75). Martinez-Rodriguez finished the indoor season with season-best marks of 1.55m/5-1 in high jump, 5.1m/16-8.75 in long jump and 11.04m/36-2.75 in triple jump. "Elena has wonderfully shifted the dynamics for the jumps crew," said Brown, "Coming in with prior knowledge and experience she knows what it takes to be successful in her events."

THE SENIORS
Seven athletes will compete in their senior campaign in 2023-24 as graduate student Paola Breña (Queretero, Mexico) is joined by fifth-year Mariana Guerra-Reese (White Bear Lake, Minn.) along with true seniors, Erica Conrad (Ashwaubenon, Wis.), Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.), Elena Martinez-Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain), Viola Okey-Ezealah (Lagos, Nigeria) and Taryn Sargent (Huntley, Ill.).

THE JUNIORS
Four juniors compete for St. Cloud State this season, represented by Makaylin Christenson (Praire Farm, Wis.)
Greta Freed (Rochester, Minn.), Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) and Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa).

THE SOPHOMORES
Three athletes make up this years sophomore class - Hannah Little (Grimes, Iowa), Jaileen Medina (Wheaton, Ill.) and Ava Wilmanns (Cedarburg, Wis.).

WELCOME TO THE PACK
The CSS Opener serves as the first collegiate track & field meet for the 11 freshman on the roster. They are Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa), Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.), Kyla Hendricks (Bay Port, Wis.), Alicia Jennissen (Sauk Centre, Minn.), Jenna Marxhausen (Two Harbors, Minn.), Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.), Mady Muehr (Greendale, Wis.), Audrey Rabitz (Manitowoc, Wis.), Savannah Reinke (Carrollton, Mo.), Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) and Trinity Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.).

SCHEDULE RELEASE
SCSU Track & Field has announced its schedule ahead of the 2023-24 season. SCSU will compete in a total of five indoor meets before the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Championships (Feb. 23-24) and the NCAA Championships (Mar. 8-9). All five of the regular season indoor meets are in Minnesota and the NSIC Indoor Championships will also be held in Minnesota (Mankato). The 2023-24 NCAA Indoor Championships are set to take place in Pittsburg, Kan.

2023-24 St. Cloud State Indoor Track & Field Schedule
Date                           Meet                                                                                Location
Dec 9                         CSS Opener                                                                   Duluth, Minn.
Jan 12                        St. Thomas Invitational                                            St. Paul, Minn.
Jan 27                        Jack Johnson Classic                                                  Minneapolis, Minn.
Feb 9                         Maverick Premier #1                                                 Mankato, Minn.
Feb 16                       BSU Twilight                                                                 Bemidji, Minn.
Feb 23-24                NSIC Indoor Championships                                   Mankato, Minn.
Mar 8-9                    NCAA Indoor Championships                                Pittsburg, Kan.

*Note – Schedule is subject to change, stay up to date with changes on the Track & Field page on our site.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Track & Field, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.