ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Carleton College men's track & field team sits fourth after the first full day of competition at the 2023 MIAC Indoor Championships. The Knights prevailed in the distance medley relay, and both Gabe Nichols (Fy./Grove City, Penn./Grove City) and Josh Meier (So./Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) won individual titles.
 
Carleton earned 57 points, good for fourth out of 10 teams. All of those points came in the middle and long distance running events.
 
Henry Bowman (Sr./Lafayette, Colo./Centaurus) and Chris Melville (Jr./Bloomington, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) both earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention as they placed fourth and sixth respectively, in the 5000-meter run. Bowman finished in 15:01.96, while Melville crossed the line with a personal-best time of 15:12.09.
 
Nichols led wire-to-wire in winning the mile run with a time of 4:12.99, while teammate Roy Llewellyn (Fy./Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) outkicked a runner from Saint John's to finish fourth at a personal-best 4:16.93, grabbing All-MIAC Honorable Mention. Indy Lyness (Fy./Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) and Elijah Jones (Sr./Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) added to the Knights' team point total by finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. At 4:21.82 and 4:22.19.
 
Josh Meier (So./Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.44, moving into ninth place on Carleton's all-time list. Jeremy Fong (Sr./Niiza-Shi, Japan/Christian Academy in Japan) joined him on the podium, taking third at 1:57.70. With a strong finishing kick, Alistair Pattison (Jr./St. Paul, Minn./Como Park) won his heat and took fourth overall at 1:57.75, securing All-MIAC Honorable Mention. All three Knights set new indoor personal bests.
 
The first full day of competition at the conference meet concluded with the distance medley relay, and Carleton's all-rookie entry came from behind to win by more than 10 seconds. This is quite possibly the first time an all-first-year relay won the DMR at the MIAC Championships. Llewellyn, Reese Anderson (Fy./Frontenac, Minn./Lake City), Lyness, and Nichols combined on a time of 10:23.90, good for No. 5 on Carleton's all-time performance list.
 
Up Next for the Knights
The final day of competition at the MIAC Indoor Championships gets underway with field events starting at 10:15 a.m. Racing on the track begins at 1:00 p.m.
 

All-MIAC performances for Carleton (1st-3rd place individual or relay…through Day 2)

Mile Run
1. Gabe Nichols — 4:12.99
 
800-Meter Run
1. Josh Meier — 1:56.44
3. Jeremy Fong — 1:57.70
 
Distance Medley Relay
1. Carleton (Roy Llewellyn, Reese Anderson, Indy Lyness, Gabe Nichols) — 10:23.90
 

All-MIAC Honorable Mention performances for Carleton (4th-6th place individual or relay …through Day 2)

5000-meter run
4. Henry Bowman — 15:01.96
6. Chris Melville — 15:12.09
 
Mile Run
4. Roy Llewellyn — 4:16.93
 
800-Meter Run
4. Alistair Pattison — 1:57.75