NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The Carleton College men's track team won four events and finished fourth out of seven teams at the Meet of the Hearts, the Knights' first home competition of the season.
 
Gabe Nichols won the 3,000-meter run handily, eclipsing his previous personal best by nearly five seconds. His time of 8:18.19 broke the Recreation Center record established in 2016. Nichols ranks No. 4 in team history behind Olympian Matthew Wilkinson '21, multiple time national champion Dale Kramer '78, and multiple time All-American Lucas Mueller '21.
 
Nichols is listed No. 2 in the MIAC this season and No. 18 on the NCAA Division III performance list. He did this while running by himself as he posted a whopping 48-second margin of victory after lapping the entire field before the 2,000-meter mark of the race.
 
With Nichols leading the way, Carleton finished with a 1-2-3-4-5 sweep of the event as Travis Brown (9:06.43), Ravi Achar (9:07.93), Andrew Jamison (9:11.63, 20-second PR), and Nathaniel Malchow (9:13.26, 15-second PR) all posted new personal bests.
 
Josh Meier was a close second in the 800-meter run, finishing at a personal-best 1:55.75. That ranks him No. 5 all-time at Carleton and No. 3 in the MIAC this season. He also ran the fastest leg on the Knights' victorious 4x400-meter relay, teaming with Asher Nathan, James Alexander, and Daniel Scheider on a time of 3:29.79.
 
After Nathan led off with a strong start, Alexander — who had a nearly 1-second PR in the 400-meter dash earlier in the day — turned in a fantastic leg, moving the Knights from third place into the lead and setting up Meier and Scheider for an eventual 1.7-second victory.
 
Earlier in the day, Scheider added his first collegiate victory, crossing the line in the 600-meter run at 1:23.88, good for a two-second PR and No. 8 in the MIAC this season. Sam Reiter established a personal best, clocking 1:27.30 to placed fourth in the event.
 
The Knights' other victory came in the pole vault. First-year James Gates crushed his previous best by 6.75 inches as he cleared 4.37 meters (14' 4") and moved to No. 6 in Carleton history and No. 4 in the MIAC this year. Teammate Soren Kaster was the runner up at 4.27 meters.
 
The mile run saw seasons bests for Torte Torstenson (PR, 4:33.39); Ryan Bernstein (PR, 4:33.78); Emerson Lange (4:34.63), and Kyle Thompson (PR, 4:38.02).
 
Other top-five finishes for Carleton:
• Kaster was the runner up in the 55-meter hurdles, carding an 8.27, while Reese Anderson finished fifth with an 8.80.
• Max Jones took fourth place in the 55-meter dash (6.80).
• Ben Mazor finished fifth in the 1,000-meter run at a season-best 2:44.60.
• Lucas Heldman's 1.78-meter clearance earned him fourth in the high jump.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Gabe Nichols will travel to Boston University to compete in the mile run at the prestigious David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Friday, Feb. 14. The rest of the Carleton squad will compete the next day at the Maverick Premier #2 meet hosted by Minnesota State University, Mankato.