St. Cloud State Track & Field to Compete at Maverick Premier #1 and CSB/SJU Invitational

Friday, February 9

Mankato, Minn.

11:00 A.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Maverick Premier #1

St. Cloud State Track & Field to Compete at Maverick Premier #1 and CSB/SJU Invitational

2/8/2024 4:14:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

Majority of team heads to Minnesota State Friday, select Huskies travel to St. John’s Saturday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Track & Field returns to competition with two meets after being idle last weekend. The majority of the team will be competing at the Maverick Premier #1 on Friday at the Myers Field House on the campus of Minnesota State in Mankato and three Huskies will compete at the CSB/SJU Invitational on Saturday at The Donald McNeely Spectrum on the campus of St. Johns in Collegeville.

On Friday, the Maverick Premier #1 will begin at 11:00 a.m. with jumps and throws and running events will start at 12:30. The CSB/SJU Invitational gets underway at 11:00 a.m. Saturday.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Maverick Premier #1 – Admission fees are as follows: Adults (18 and older) $10 and youth (ages 10-17) $5. Anyone under the age of 10 will be free of charge. Live results will be provided by Hero's Timing. You can watch the meet on the NSIC Network (Running Events / Throws / Long Jump).

CSB/SJU Invitational – Live results will be provided by Wayzata Results.

HUSKIES IN THE MEETS
Maverick Premier #1 –
60 meters (12:58 p.m. – prelims | 2:30 p.m. – finals) – Katie Lavato, Shelby Romig, Trinity Wallendal
400 meters (2:41 p.m.) – Katie Lavato, Viola Okey-Ezealah, Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
800 meters (3:28 p.m.) – Makaylin Christenson, Jaileen Medina
3,000 meters (1:28 p.m.) – Paige Beason, Erica Conrad
60 hurdles (12:30 p.m. – prelims | 2:25 p.m. – finals) – Shelby Romig, Trinity Wallendal
Long jump (12:30 p.m.) – Myesha Thompson, Ava Wilmanns
Shot put (2:55 p.m.) – Savannah Reinke
Weight throw (11:00 a.m.) – Savannah Reinke

CSB/SJU Invitational –
5,000 meters – Alena Donahue, Greta Freed, Cambrie Kowal

LAST TIME OUT
Two weeks ago, St. Cloud State Track & Field competed in the St. Olaf Invitational at the Tostrud Center in Northfield and the Jack Johnson Classic at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse in Minneapolis, coming away with one event win, two season bests and three personal bests.

Junior distance runner Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) ran to a personal best in the 5,000-meter run (19:03.64) at St. Olaf, cutting 15 seconds of her previous best time from last outdoor season and 37 second off her previous best indoor time.

At Minnesota, fifth-year distance runner Mariana Guerra-Reese (White Bear Lake, Minn.) won the 600-meter run, in a new personal best time of 1:37.39. She beat four Division I athletes in the race. Junior middle distance runner Makaylin Christenson (Prairie Farm, Wis.) made her debut in the event running 1:43.02. Junior hurdler Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa) placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles after running a season-best time of 9.43. Senior sprinter Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.) ran identical times (7.92) in the 60-meter dash prelims and finals, placing third and fifth respectively in each. Senior distance runner Erica Conrad (Ashwaubenon, Wis.) clocked a season best in the 3,000-meter run (11:25.56) while freshmen Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa) and Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.) made their collegiate debut in the distance running 11:15.10 and 11:53.16 respectively. Freshman jumper/thrower Savannah Reinke (Carrollton, Mo.) recorded a new personal best in the weight throw (9.65m/31-8).

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.