ARDEN HILLS, Minn. (csssaints.com) –– The St. Scholastica men's track and field competed on the final day of the championship competition on Saturday afternoon. The MIAC's best continued to battle it out for All-Conference accolades at the gorgeous new facility, nestled atop the hill on the Bethel University's campus. The St. John's men repeated their team title from last year, while the Saints men moved up three spots from their 2022 finish to take sixth in the team standings.

Final Men's Team Standings
1. Saint John's - 216
2. St. Olaf - 176
3. Bethel - 133.5
4. Macalester - 69
5. Carleton - 64
6. St. Scholastica - 62
7. Concordia - 41.5
8. Gustavus - 40
9. Hamline -31
10. Saint Mary's - 14
11. Augsburg - 11

TOP RESULTS
Day two consisted of all finals after Friday's preliminary heats, as well as the field event finals that were dispersed between the two days of competition. Starting the day off with a bang was the 4x100m relay team made up of Sean Alfaro Diedrich (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS), Jericho Peterson (Mountain Iron, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS), Kaedyn Redig (St. Charles, Minn./St. Charles HS), and Samuel Eben Ebai Jr. (Yaounde, Cameroon/P.S.S. Mankon) The crew got into the mix right off the bat with Diedrich's stellar lead-off leg and managed clean exchanges throughout as Eben Ebai moved the team across the finish line in fourth place. The team's time of 42.33 seconds broke the school record from 2021's UMAC championship team. Peterson and Eben Ebai were part of both the old and new records in this event. All members of this relay team were named All-MIAC honorable mention for the performance.

Eben Ebai used this relay to blast himself into a record-breaking streak for the ages at Saturday's championships. In the 100m final, he blew past his previous school record and stormed across the finish line in a blazing 10.57 seconds to set the new standard for Saints' short sprinters. This result placed him second overall on the podium and garnered him yet another All-MIAC award.

In the 200m dash, Eben Ebai finally got a wind-legal shot at the half-lap race. After the conference meet record was bettered by three different individuals in Friday's prelims, the crowd knew this would be a marquee event on the weekend. Eben Ebai charged around the curve, making up the stagger on everyone else, as he stormed down the home stretch. Although Eben Ebai's heroics weren't enough to take the overall victory, he crossed the line in 21.45 seconds to again reach the podium in second place. This was Eben Ebai's second individual All-MIAC award on the day.

Coming off of a taxing day one, first-year Noah Kubicek (Owatona, Minn./Owatonna HS) made the most of his chance in the 400m final, which saw the top two finishers run top six times in the country this year. In the outside lane, Kubicek fought the whole way for a hard-earned point and eighth-place finish. Kubicek's time of 49.49 marked the third time he has broken 50 seconds in the last eight days.

In the 800m final, Derek Douglas (Escanaba, Mich./Escanaba HS) ran his third 800m race in less than 24 hours. Even so, Douglas managed to run a personal record time of 1:56.30 to place seventh overall and secure two points for the Saints. This time moves Douglas to number five on the St. Scholastica all-time list.

In a painfully close shot put competition, Trent Beseth (Stanchfield, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) put forth a throw of 14.65m (48-00.75ft) to place fifth overall and add four more points to his whooping weekend total of 14. This throw was less than four inches out of the second position in the event and added an All-MIAC honorable mention award to his name. Grant Steger (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS) also added to his weekend point tally with a seventh-place finish in the shot put. His throw of 13.53m (45-10ft) helped him add another valuable two points to the Saints' team tally.

To close out the action for championship Saturday, the men's 4x400m did not disappoint on the wait. In a relay led off by two senior captains in their MIAC swan song, Peterson and Eben Ebai got the team right into the mix after the first two legs. In the third leg, Douglas held onto the leaders in his fourth race of 400m or longer in two days to give the stick to Kubicek with a chance to chase. Kubicek got on his horse and surged with the anchor legs. Kubicek roared down the home stretch to move the team into third place in a new school record time of 3:20.52. This time shattered the school record of 3:23.90, which was set back in April. These four earned All-MIAC honors for their herculean team performance.

UP NEXT
This marks the end of the season for the majority of the St. Scholastica track and field roster. However, with a few athletes still on the hunt for national qualifying marks, and others seeking fast times to hang their hats on for the summer, a small contingent will travel to UW-LaCrosse next Thursday to take part in the Last Chance Meet. Stay tuned for updates and information on Saints track and field's post-season news.