2023 Men's Track and Field Off And Running
The 2023 Indoor Season for the MAC Track & Field teams is underway with several individuals already posting outstanding performances after 2 meets. Hopes are high for the Spring season for both squads, with the Men's team finishing as Runner-Up at the Division 3 meet in New York last May, with the Lady Cardinals bringing home the 3rd place trophy in the 3-day event. Returning sophomores for the men include Hunter Cary who won Individual National titles in the 110 High Hurdles and Decathlon in 2022 as well as earning All Region 16 honors; All Region 16 Sprinter/Jumper Cory Stoll; All American Distance Runners Devin St. Clair and Grayson Knernschield; and Distance runner Jacob Arnold whose impressive resume includes All Region 16 awards in both Cross Country and Track, 3 time All American in both sports, as well as being a member of 5 National Championship trophy teams which include the National Championship Cross Country teams in 2019 and 2020.
The teams competed at the Principia Relays on Friday January 27th and Saturday January 28th to start their Indoor season and followed that up on Saturday, February 4th with a meet at Illinois College.
On the men's side, the MAC team was lead by Hunter Cary with an impressive hurdle race in which he placed 2nd in the preliminary round, and Freshman Jumper Anthony Treadwell who finished 2nd in the Long Jump and 4th in the Triple Jump.
Complete results for both Mineral Area Track and Field teams can be found at the following site:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/76729/m/Principia_College_Relays?team_hnd=98373
The great performances didn't stop with the Principia meet, as the Cardinals competed in the Jim Green Invitational hosted by Illinois College in their second Indoor meet, with top honors with out a doubt going to Freshman distance stand out Bradley Ahrens. Ahrens qualified for the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in both the Mile ( 4:16.86) and 800 ( 1:56.97), which were both personal best times for Brad in those events. Brad toed the line with several individuals from 4-year schools and came away with the overall win in the mile and 2nd place finish in the 800. The National Indoor meet will be held at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas on the first weekend in March. Qualifying standards are set by Division 1 performances which make Brad's accomplishment even more impressive. Other standout efforts for the Cardinal men came in the 55 meter dash from Cory Stoll (7th) and Sie'ntez Lerma (8th) ; the Long Jump for Stoll (4th) and Anthony Treadwell ( 2nd) ; a fourth place finish in the Triple Jump for Treadwell; and a second place finish in the High Jump for Gavin Cartwright.
Overall Mineral Area College results can be found at:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/76648/m/Illinois_College_Jim_Green_Invite?team_hnd=98373
The next competition for the MAC T & F teams will be Saturday, February 11th at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois.
After the first two Indoor meets of the season, several of the Cardinals have achieved qualifying marks for the NJCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships which will be in May at Utica, New York. A complete list of qualifiers will be posted after next week's meet at Illinois Wesleyan.