The St. Thomas men’s and women’s track teams performed well in a non-scored meet Friday, winning multiple events in preparation for big conference meets later this year.

Sophomore Mike Hutton took first in the 1000-meter dash with a time of 2:30.29. The time was not only a personal indoors best for Hutton but also put him at fifth on the Tommies’ all-time list. The men’s team also took first in the 4-by-400-meter relay.

Senior Matthew Griswold won the 55-meter hurdle with a time of 7.79, and freshman Eyo Ekpo, who competed unattached, took first in the triple jump with a distance of 14.66 meters. It was also an indoor personal-best and the third-best jump in St. Thomas’ indoor track history.

On the women’s side, Emily Van Heel finished the 400-meter dash in just under a minute, clocking in at 59.36. Junior Raynee DeGrio finished first in the 1000-meter dash with a time of 3:14.70. Junior Allie Metzler also had a good 3000-meter dash, finishing 10 seconds before any of her competitors with a time of 10:40.55.

St. Thomas competed against athletes from Augsburg, St. Catherine’s, Bethel, St. Mary’s and
UW-Lacrosse in the meet.

Men’s team

Grisowld said he was happy with his performance in the 55-meter hurdles.

“It felt really good,” Griswold said. “I hit a couple hurdles early on. Prelims were a little rocky, but the finals felt really smooth, really fast, so I’m really happy with that time for this time of year.”

Griswold also participated in the shot put, in which he placed 10th. He said the team is a bit younger than last year but added that the new members have great potential.

“It’s just a matter of getting these young guys to keep training,” Griswold said.

He said he has “big hopes” for the upcoming semester.

“We’ve got the MIAC conference championship at home this year, so we’re pretty excited,” Griswold said. “It’s just a matter of training and getting our legs under us and running really well for the conference championship.”

Men’s coach Steve Mathre said he was excited to watch the men’s and women’s teams compete and to get another chance to use the new athletic complex.

“I think the meet is going very well,” Mathre said. “What we’re doing is obviously testing our team for competition. Also, we’re putting the facility through its paces as we get ready for the conference championships hosted here in March.”

The focus of the meet was not on points or a victory, Mathre said, it was about working on improving and getting the best scores possible.

“We’re doing well in our hurdles, we’re doing well in the middle distance events,” Mathre said. “We’ve had some very good jumpers today, and I think we’ve got guys who have stepped up.

“We saw some improvement from this week to last week, and we hope to see that same kind of improvement each week,” Mathre said.

In addition to improving consistency, Mathre said, he wants the team to focus on the “little things that make a difference,” in preparation for the conference championships in March.

“We’ve been fortunate to have won 26 conference championships in a row, so obviously this is a big one for us,” Mathre said.

Women’s team

The women’s team also has many freshman competing in eventsl. Assistant coach Pete Wareham said the year was off to a good start.

“It’s actually gone very well for this time of the year,” Wareham said. “We’re running faster than expected. The new track seems to be faster, or at least it seems to be a fast track.”

Wareham said new team members are stepping up to the plate to help fill holes left by graduating seniors. He said this year’s team is keeping up the pace of last year’s team.

“I think St. Thomas is still strong,” Wareham said.“It’s going to be a nice battle at conference.”

Freshman Erin Sheehan finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:33.55. She said the events ran smoothly and the team performed well.

“I think for the beginning, we’re at a good level,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan said the women’s sprinters had some of the best performances of the day. She also said she knows the stakes are high for the spring, and the team will have to keep improving.

“As the year goes on, we’re going to have to step it up a bit,” Sheehan said.

The men’s team will have another meet Jan. 29 in Mankato, and the women’s team will head to St. Olaf Jan. 28 for the “J-term Finale” meet.

Nathan Spencer can be reached at spen9079@stthomas.edu.