St. Cloud State Track & Field Closes Indoor Regular Season at BSU Twilight

Friday, February 16

Bemidji, Minn.

3:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

BSU Twilight

Tegan Michalak at CSB/SJU Inv. 2-10 | 2-15 preview

St. Cloud State Track & Field Closes Indoor Regular Season at BSU Twilight

2/15/2024 5:50:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

Huskies prepare for final meet ahead of the NSIC Championships

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Track & Field closes out its regular-season indoor schedule on Friday at the BSU Twilight in Bemidji. The meet is set to begin at 3 p.m. at the Gillett Wellness Center on the campus of Bemidji State.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Live results will be provided by Hero's Timing.

HUSKIES IN THE MEET
60m – Katie Lavato, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Shelby Romig, Trinity Wallendal, Myesha Thompson, Jenna Marxhausen
400m – Katie Lavato
600m – Makaylin Christenson, Audrey Rabitz, Lauren Sertich
1,000m – Paige Beason, Jaileen Medina
Mile – Erica Conrad, Alena Donahue, Tegan Michalak
60m hurdles – Shelby Romig, Trinity Wallendal
High jump – Makaylin Christenson, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Myesha Thompson
Shot put – Alicia Jennissen, Savannah Reinke
Weight throw – Alicia Jennissen

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, St. Cloud State Track & Field competed in the Maverick Premier #1 on Friday at the Myers Field House in Mankato, leaving with three personal bests and one season best. Four athletes competed at the CSB/SJU Invitational at The Donald McNeely Spectrum in Collegeville on Saturday, leaving with a victory and four of the top five finishers in the 5,000m.

On Friday, Senior distance runner Erica Conrad (Ashwaubenon, Wis.) ran to a personal best time in the 3,000m (11:16.71), cutting nine seconds off her previous season best from two weeks ago at the Jack Johnson Classic (11:25.56) and her previous personal best of 11:25.08 at the Bearson-Gathje Classic on Jan. 13, 2023. She placed 12^th in the event and freshman Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa) placed 13th, running 11:23.27.

Freshman sprinter/jumper Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) posted a new career-best in the long jump (17-7.5), placing sixth. She also ran her first career 400m in a time of 1:05.66. Freshman sprinter/hurdler Trinity Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.) ran 10.09 in the 60m hurdles, cutting 0.50 seconds off her previous best that she ran in her first collegiate meet on Dec. 9, 2023. She also ran her first collegiate 60m in 8.64. Sophomore middle distance runner Jaileen Medina (Wheaton, Ill.) raced to a three-second season best in the 800m (2:42.52).

Junior hurdler Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa) ran her second fastest 60m hurdles time of the season, 9.55, and raced her first collegiate 60m in 8.55. Senior sprinter Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.) ran her second best 60m time of the season (7.90) and ran her first collegiate 400m in 1:03.54. Sophomore sprinter/jumper Ava Wilmanns (Cedarburg, Wis.) ran her first career 400m in 1:12.41. Freshman jumper/thrower Savannah Reinke (Malta Bend, Mo.) posted her second-best career shot put (9.24m/30-3.75) effort.

On Saturday morning, four distance athletes ran in the 5,000m at St. John's. Senior Greta Freed (Rochester, Minn.) won the race in 19:17.77, junior Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) was the runner-up in 19:22.15, freshman Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.) was third in 20:16.96 and rounding out the Huskies was freshman Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.) who finished fifth in 20:38.55.

NORTHERN SUN NOTABLES
Heading into the final weekend before the conference meet, Huskies ranked in the top 30 of the NSIC performance list are listed below.

Mariana Guerra-Reese – 4^th – 600m / 10^th – 800m
Makaylin Christenson, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Hannah Little, Mariana Guerra-Reese – 14^th – 4x400m relay
Katie Lavato – 18^th – 60m
Myesha Thompson – 19^th – Long jump
Cambrie Kowal – 21^st – 5,000m
Greta Freed – 24^th – 5,000m
Makaylin Christenson – 26^th – 600m
Alena Donahue – 28^th – 5,000m
Shelby Romig – 28^th – 60m hurdles

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Graduate student Paola Breña (Queretero, Mexico – Clinical Exercise Physiology) was bestowed with the prestigious Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction award on Jan. 25. The honor, named for the late NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, is given to senior NSIC student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher, are exhausting their eligibility and are on track to graduate (student-athletes can only earn the award once). Each student-athlete is recognized by the NSIC with a certificate of achievement and a wristwatch.

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) and 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.