UMAC Indoor Track & Field Championship Begins Friday

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UMAC Indoor Track & Field Championship Webpage (including meet schedule and heat sheets)
Video Interview with Brianna Buske, St. Scholastica
Video Interview with Chalmer Combellick, Minnesota Morris

ST. PAUL – The College of St. Scholastica is set to host the 2015 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Indoor Track and Field Championship in Burns Wellness Fieldhouse this Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28. The 2015 championship will take place over a two-day period for the first time in event history. Friday’s competition will begin at 6 p.m. with Saturday’s action set to get underway at 12 p.m.

St. Scholastica is the only program to claim a men’s or women’s UMAC Indoor Track & Field title and both teams will look to keep their streaks alive by capturing their sixth straight titles in Duluth this weekend. St. Scholastica’s Brianna Buske has won 12 of the 14 events that she has competed in this season and has set program records for the Saints in the 300, 400, 600 and 800 meter races this season. Her 400m time of 58.54 currently ranks 29th in NCAA Division III. Junior Nicole Christianson also owns NCAA Division III rankings as she is currently 23rd in the high jump and 37th in the triple jump with marks of 1.65m and 11.07m respectively.

The University of Minnesota Morris came in second place at the 2014 Indoor Championship and will once again look to challenge the Saints for the title this weekend. The Cougars will hope to gain valuable points in the throwing events as Kaopua Sutton currently owns the top conference performance in the shot put ranking 12th in NCAA Division III while Sami Brinkmann tops the UMAC list in the weight throw this season.

A young Northwestern team hopes to improve on their third place finish from 2014 at this year’s Indoor Championship. Watch for freshmen Alyssa Arends and Amber Doebler and sophomore Jordin Skarin in the running events as they have been impressive for the Eagles this season.

Bethany Lutheran College will round out the women’s field this weekend. The Vikings have continued to improve as a team throughout the season setting numerous program records along the way. They hope to continue that trend this weekend behind Megan Sauer in the distance events and Kari Marzinske in the 60m hurdles.

On the men’s side, the Saints will look to juniors Kevin Wagner, Jeremy Peterson, Luke McKenzie and Chris Lawson to lead the way. Wagner currently tops the UMAC performance list in the 200m, 60m hurdles and high jump and ranks sixth in NCAA Division III in the heptathlon. Peterson, the 2014 UMAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet, tops the UMAC list in the shot put and weight throw currently ranking 23rd in Division III in the weight throw. Lawson owns the top times in the conference this season in the 3000m and 5000m runs while McKenzie’s 800m time of 1:55.81 is a UMAC best and 43rd in Division III.

Minnesota Morris, who finished second at the 2014 Championship, will look to challenge the Saints this weekend. The Cougars will feature 2014 Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet Chalmer Combellick in the 800m, mile run and most likely as part of a relay. Combellick currently sits on top of the UMAC record books in both events and holds the top time in the conference this season in the mile run. The Cougars also look for a strong showing out of sprinter Justin Terry who owns the top time in the UMAC in the 60m this season (7.10) as well as in the relay events.

In just their second season as a program, a young Bethany Lutheran squad finished in third place at the 2014 UMAC Indoor Championship. The Vikings boast distance runner Owen Richardson who was the 2014 UMAC Men’s Cross Country Individual Champion. Richardson will look to gain valuable points for the Vikings in the 3000m and 800m runs.

After finishing in fourth place at last year’s championship event Northwestern has added several new faces to the program. The young Eagles’ squad has continued to turn in solid marks this season and looks to be competitive this weekend. Mid-distance freshmen Wil Maki set a new program record for the Eagles in the 800m run this season and holds the second best performance in the UMAC in the event with a time of 1:58.20. Kyle Anenson will also look to be in the scoring mix for the Eagles in the 400m run.

The two-day UMAC Indoor Track & Field Championship will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday evening and resume at 12 p.m. on Saturday. For additional event information, including a link to live results, visit the 2015 UMAC Indoor Track & Field Championship webpage.