St. Cloud State Track & Field Readies for St. Olaf Invitational and Jack Johnson Classic

Friday, January 26

Northfield, Minn.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

St. Olaf Invitational

Makaylin Christenson and Viola Okey-Ezealah UST 1-12 | 1-25 preview

Photo by: Jacob Sanders

St. Cloud State Track & Field Readies for St. Olaf Invitational and Jack Johnson Classic

1/25/2024 4:12:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

Select Huskies head to St. Olaf Friday, majority of team travels to University of Minnesota Saturday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Track & Field returns to competition with two meets after being idle last weekend. Three Huskies will compete in the 5,000 meters at the St. Olaf invitational on Friday in the Tostrud Center in Northfield and the rest of the team will compete at the Jack Johnson Classic on Saturday in the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse in Minneapolis. The St. Olaf Invitational 5,000 meters will take place Friday at 7 p.m. and the Jack Johnson Classic will begin at 9:30 a.m. with jumps, throwing events will start at 11 a.m. and the running events will get started at 11:15 a.m.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
St. Olaf Invitational – Live results will be provided by Fast Finish Results.

Jack Johnson Classic – Admission to the meet is free and parking information can be found here. Live results will be provided by Wayzata Results.

HUSKIES IN THE MEET
St. Olaf Invitational –
5,000 meters (~ 7:00 p.m.) – Alena Donahue, Greta Freed, Cambrie Kowal

Jack Johnson Classic –
60 meters (prelims – 12:25 p.m.|finals – 2:05 p.m.) – Katie Lavato, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
200 meters (3:55 p.m.) – Katie Lavato, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
300 meters (3:20 p.m.) – Viola Okey-Ezealah
400 meters (2:20 p.m.) – Makaylin Christenson, Mariana Guerra-Reese
600 meters (3:40 p.m.) – Makaylin Christenson, Mariana Guerra-Reese
800 meters (2:50 p.m.) – Jaileen Medina
3,000 meters (4:35 p.m.) – Paige Beason, Erica Conrad, Tegan Michalak
60 hurdles (prelims – 12:10 p.m.|finals – 1:50 p.m.) – Shelby Romig
Long jump (1:00 p.m.) – Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
Shot put (11:00 a.m.) – Alicia Jennissen, Savannah Reinke
Weight throw (2:10 p.m.) – Alicia Jennissen, Savannah Reinke

LAST TIME OUT
The Huskies opened 2024 at St. Thomas for the St. Thomas Invitational on January 12 at the AARC Fieldhouse in St. Paul. SCSU had four individual champions and two runner-up finishes.

Junior hurdler Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa) won the 60-meter hurdles in a near season best time of 9.62. Shortly after Romig took her first-place finish, freshman Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) sealed a win in the long jump on her final attempt with a personal best jump of 5.29m (17-4.25). In the next event on the track, junior middle distance runner Makaylin Christenson (Prarie Farm, Wis.) won the 400-meter dash, running 1:03.19 which is just .03 off her season best. Just 25 minutes after placing second in the 60-meter dash finals (8.06), senior sprinter Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.) took the 200-meter dash title in 26.97. Thompson also recorded a personal-best performance in the 200-meter dash (27.94).

Senior sprinter Viola Okey-Ezealah (Lagos, Nigeria) advanced to the 60-meter dash finals after running a new personal best time of 8.23 and went on to finish one place better than her seed. Freshman spinter/hurdler Trinity Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.) ran a personal best in the 200-meter dash (29.86). Fifth-year distance runner Mariana Guerra-Reese (White Bear Lake, Minn.) ran a new indoor personal best in the 800-meter run (2:18.70) and placed second in the event. Senior distance runner Erica Conrad (Ashwaubenon, Wis.) clocked a season best in the 3,000-meter run (11:34.29). Freshman jumper/thrower Savannah Reinke (Carrollton, Mo.) recorded a new personal best in the shot put (9.46m/31-0.5).

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
Six 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).

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 year's sophomore class – Hannah Little (Grimes, Iowa), Jaileen Medina (Wheaton, Ill.) and Ava Wilmanns (Cedarburg, Wis.).

WELCOME TO THE PACK
The CSS Opener served as the first collegiate track & field meet for the 11 freshmen 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.).

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