NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Taylor Berg is getting used to breaking school records and tacked on one more this weekend.

Berg’s three top-eight finishes paved the way for the St. Thomas women’s 18th-place finish out of 64 teams in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at North Central College.

Coming into the weekend’s competition, Berg set new school records for the 1,000-meter race and the mile in the conference meet. Berg and teammates Erin Statz, Emily Van Heel and Kayla Goeman slashed another school record in the distance medley relay, clocking in at 11:37.96 for fourth place.

For Berg, the record serves as a motivating factor heading into the outdoor season.

“It gives us a lot of confidence heading into outdoor,” Berg said. “It was really exciting because Kayla Goeman, and I had huge personal records.”

In the women’s 5,000-meter run, Berg came in fourth place at 17:03.43. Statz finished 12th at 17:31.19.

Angela Tipp, Erika Tipp, Goeman and Van Heel landed an eighth place out of 10 teams in the women’s 4×400 meter relay at 3:52.97.

Berg said she is proud of the team’s consistent success year-to-year.

“It was a good weekend,” Berg said. “Everyone did well. We left with a lot of hard work. I just think it’s awesome that we have the number of girls show every year from St. Thomas.”

Maxwell Dunne’s fourth-place heptathlon finish led the St. Thomas men’s track and field team to 21st place of 58 teams.

After holding second place in the heptathlon heading into the second day of the competition, Dunne came out with a fourth-place performance for the Tommies, scoring 5,051 points. Teammate Gavin Yseth finished 12th with 4,605 points overall.

For Dunne, his fourth-place finish wasn’t what he expected.

“Not everything … went the way I wanted necessarily,” Dunne said. “I’m pretty proud I guess.”

Coach Steve Mathre said he was pleased with Dunne’s performance.

“He had his best performance ever in a very tough field. He performed as well as he’s ever done,” Mathre said. “I think he can still live with that performance and be proud of what he did.”

Eyo Ekpo stepped up for the Tommie men with his sixth-place finish in the triple jump. Ekpo’s 14.75-meter jump landed him in the middle of the pack of 13 competitors behind Wisconsin-La Crosse senior Isaac Vazquez’s winning 15.63 meter finish.

Mathre said he is proud of the men’s finish, especially considering the number of athletes who competed.

“We only have three individuals,” Mathre said. “You only have so many places to go. It’s not a great finish. We would have loved to have been a higher-placed team, and we hope to be so in the outdoor season.”

Dunne said the team can improve heading into the outdoor season.

“We did good, but we can do better,” Dunne said. “I think we can get more guys there, to nationals, come outdoor … I guess it’s a motivator.”

Sean Crotty can be reached at crot0230@stthomas.edu.