NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The senior class led the way as the Carleton College men's track & field teams won five events on Saturday at the Meet of the Hearts, a 14-team competition at the Recreation Center. Bridger Rives (Sr./Skiatook, Okla./Bishop Kelley) won the 600-meter run, Ben Perry (Sr./Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis Washburn) prevailed in the 1000-meter run, Stephen Lavey (Sr./Cedar Grove, Wis./Cedar Grove-Belgium) took top honors in the 3000-meter run, and Owen Schuster (Sr./Batavia, Ill./Batavia) tied for first in the pole vault.
 
"We are fortunate to have such a great coaching staff—Josh Schoen, Brian Mondschein, and Jesse Schoen—combined with a group of hard-working, disciplined student-athletes," said Carleton head coach Dave Ricks. "I don't know if people can really appreciate the effort that they have all put in during this pandemic. They have missed an indoor season, an outdoor season, and a cross country season, and yet they have still stayed motivated to produce these outstanding performances.  It has not been easy, but our coaching staff recognizes the heroic efforts of these guys."
 
Lavey smashed his previous personal best in the 3K by more than 17 seconds. He was less than a second from eclipsing the Rec Center record with his winning time of 8:20.08. That ranks him tops in the MIAC this season and No. 12 in the nation. All eight Knights running in the event established new personal-best times.
 
"This was one of the best combined performances by our distance group, which is coached by Josh Schoen," said Ricks.
 
Schuster moved to third place in team history when he cleared 4.42 meters (14 feet, 6 inches) in the pole vault.
"Last week, he broke the 14-foot barrier, and today he nearly broke the 15-foot barrier with a near-miss at 15' 0".  His progression has been exciting," Ricks said.
 
Perry set a new personal record with his winning time of 2:35.49 in the 1000-meter race. "Ben ran an outstanding race structure and ran away from the competition over the last 300 meters," said Ricks. 
 
Rives, racing the 600-meter distance for the first time this season, was first to the line with a time of 1:26.84.
 
Additionally, sophomore Ethan Ash (Oakland, Calif./Head-Royce School) prevailed in the mile run with his personal-best time of 4:23.35.
 
Other top-5 results for the Knights:
• Oscar Christoph (Sr./Tacoma, Wash./Wilson) won his heat of the 200-meter dash and was fifth overall at 23.56.
• Liam Kennedy (So./St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Central) took fifth with his indoor PR time of 53.53 in the 400-meter dash.
• Adam Nakasaka (Sr./Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) was fourth in the mile with a personal-best time of 4:27.67.
• Carleton took third place in the 4x200-meter relay. Christoph, Hugh Schanno (So./Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School), Kennedy, and Ethan Cline-Cole (Fy./Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Trinity School) combined on a time of 1:38.13.
• The Knights' entry in the 4x400-meter relay earned third place with a season-best time of 3:34.39 turned in by Kennedy, Cline-Cole, Ash, and Rives.
• Aravindh Subramanian (Jr./Dayton, N.J./South Brunswick) cleared 1.78 meters to earn fifth place in the high jump.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton is scheduled to take part in the Tostrud Classic on Saturday, Feb. 19. That will be the team's final tune up before the MIAC Championships on Feb. 24-26.