There was much to be excited about for the Saints Men's Track and Field team after day one of the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Kicking off day one for the Saints was the dynamic distance duo of Calvin Boone (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Highland Park HS) and Lars DeWall. The crowd was gifted with a high caliber 1500m final to start the two-day meet. Starting off an honest pace, the two emerged with the leaders in the second half of the race. Boone shifted up the line to put himself in striking position to win, while DeWall took a bit more time to navigate the crowd. In the final lap, the two Saints pressed towards the leaders and found themselves together as they flew off of the final turn. It was DeWall crossing the line in fourth in 3:53.27 and Boone on his heels in fifth 3:53.77. DeWall's time was a personal best, and improved his standing as the second fastest Saints of all time behind Boone. The two combined for nine team points and claimed All-MIAC honorable mention honors for their finishes. 

Highlighting the field events for the Saints was the newly crowned MIAC champion in the hammer throw, Joshua Monreal (Proctor, Minn./Proctor HS). Monreal got some early throws out there to put himself into the lead. Although challengers came within inches of Monreal's early lead, he continued to move his throws further out until he hit his stride with a 54.23m launch. Monreal put up 10 big points for the team, and improved his ranking as the third best in this event in Saints history. This is Monreal's first MIAC championship. 

In the 100m prelims, Sean Alfaro Diedrich (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) again made his presence known in the MIAC sprint crowd. Alfaro Diedrich blasted out of the blocks and found himself on the leading crest of a talented preliminary heat. 10.88 was Alfaro Diedrich's finishing time, as he nipped the line in second place in his heat. This was the fifth fastest qualifier on the day and secured his spot in Saturday's final. This improved Alfaro Diedrich's standing as the fourth fastest Saint in school history in the classic sprint race. 

Noah Kubicek (Owatona, Minn./Owatonna HS) rose to the occasion in the 400m prelims with a new personal best time, and in turn a new St. Scholastica school record. Kubicek's record time of 48.80 seconds safely placed him second in his heat to punch his ticket to Saturday's final. 

Kubicek returned in the 200m dash to run another personal record and advance to the second final of the day. His time of 21.90 inches him closer to the school record, but improves his standing as the second fastest in school history. 

In the 800m run, Derek Douglas (Escanaba, Mich./Escanaba HS) ran a gutsy effort to barely miss out on Saturday's final. His time of 1:56.54 was the second fastest career finish for Douglas. He placed 10th overall in the event. 

Friday's running events concluded with the 4x800m team jumping into the action. The team of Jeffrey Kayfes (Buhl, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS), Nathan Neu (Ortonville, Minn./Ortonville HS), Ashton Niemi (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS), and Joel Bouley (Zimmerman, MN/Zimmerman HS) hung tough to get into the points. Kayfes led off the relay with a monstrous personal best split to keep the team in the mix. Nathan Neu (Ortonville, Minn./Ortonville HS) held it together to get the stick to Niemi in contention. In the race of his life, Niemi gave chase and gave Bouley the momentum to finish the job. Nabbing the final scoring place, in eighth, the team finished in 7:58.64. This team performance is the fourth fastest 4x800m relay in school history. 

Follow along as the team continues day two on Saturday here. 

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