MANKATO, Minn. –
Stephen Lavey's (Sr./Cedar Grove, Wis./Cedar Grove-Belgium) victory in the 5000-meter run and
Ethan Ash (So./Oakland, Calif./Head-Royce School) showing in the 800-meter run were the pinnacle performances for the Carleton College men's track & field team at the Mark Schuck Open hosted by Minnesota State University-Mankato. The 15-team meet featured 10 NCAA Division II programs,
Lavey took the lead in the 5000-meter race from the starting gun and paced Carleton to a 1-2-3 finish in the 19-runner field. He crossed the line at 14:38.34, which ranks him fourth in the school record book for the indoor 5K behind national champions Dale Kramer '78 and
Matt Wilkinson '21 plus Drake Relays 10K champ Hart Hornor '16. Lavey's time ranks No. 11 in Division III this season.
Adam Nakasaka (Sr./Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and
Henry Bowman (Jr./Lafayette, Colo./Centaurus) completed the Knights' sweep of the podium, crossing the line at 15:08.14 and 15:09.31, respectively, to rank No. 33 and No. 36 in the country this winter. All three Carleton racers posted career-best performances.
Ash was seeded 10th in his heat of the 800-meter run, then won his heat going away and placed third overall with a time of 1:56.62, good for the No. 8 slot in school history.
Jens Bartel (Fy./Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) also PR'd in the event (2:01.67) while winning his heat.
Ben Perry (Sr./Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis Washburn),
Elijah Jones (Jr./Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead),
Josh Meier (Fy./Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge),
Avery Watts (Jr./Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast), and
Ben Mazor (Fy./Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) all set personal bests as they placed 1st through 5th in the second heat of the 1000-meter run.
The mile run saw Watts win his heat while smashing his previous PR by 13 seconds.
Chris Melville (So./Bloomington, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) also set a new personal standard in the event.
Oscar Christoph (Sr./Tacoma, Wash./Wilson) and
Liam Kennedy (So./St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Central) set new PRs in both the 200 and 400-meter races.
Despite having limited warm up time due to a schedule change,
Owen Schuster (Sr./Batavia, Ill./Batavia) had a season best in the pole vault after clearing 4.15 meters.
Additionally,
Ian Mortensen (So./Shoreline, Wash./Shorecrest) took part in the St. Olaf Heptathlon on Friday and Saturday, placing 6th out of 14 entrants. He totaled 4,155 points, to rank No. 28 in the country.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will return to Mankato to take part in the Ted Nelson Classic on Saturday, Feb. 5.
