Today was a VERY eventful day. Today was the finals at the NCAA Division III National Track & Field meet.
Before the track meet, I went over to S & P Harley-Davidson in Marietta, OH. I needed to get my 5,000 mile service. They were able to fit me in just in time to make it to the track meet. Jake in the Service department did a great job fitting me in so that I could make it to the meet.
Jake at S & P Harley-Davidson
While I was waiting, I talked to a nice couple that was getting a new Harley. They had traded up from their old motorcycle which had 75,000 miles on it. They bought a 2009 Ultra Classic. They were just getting ready to go on a trip and decided that this was the perfect time to get a new motorcycle.
We talked about the ABC’s of touring and how much fin I had with it last year. They decided that they were going to do that on their trip since they were HOG members. Good luck to them in their quest for the ABC’s.
When I got to the meet, I went over to the Shot Put area where Derrall King was throwing. He did pretty good, but he didn’t make the finals. It was too bad he didn’t do better. He was third in Indoor Nationals.
Just after Derall threw, the 4x100 relay ran with St. Thomas in the finals. They were only seeded second after the prelims. At the final handoff, they were about three yards behind Nebraska Wesleyan. Patrick Jager ran down the guy and passes him in the last 100 meters. They are National Champions! Way to go MIAC! (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for those of you not familiar with the MIAC)
The next race was Brandon Gleason’s race in the 1500 meter final. He was seeded fourth going into the final, but he was only 1/100th of a second out of first place. Brandon was near the end of the pack during most of the race, but with one lap to go, he made his move and ended up getting fourth place with a time of 3:53.86. He was only .45 seconds behind the winner. I thought he was going to catch him at the finish, but he just didn’t have anything left. Brandon is now an All-American in Cross Country and Track. Way to go Brandon.
Brandon Gleason
1500 meters - 4th place
The 400 was not much of a surprise with last year’s winner taking the top spot again this year with a time of 46.65. The MIAC did have one person become All-American. Patrick Jager from St. Thomas was fifth in 47.98 which, coincidentally, was the same place and time that I finished in 1985.
In between races, I chatted with Brock Solveson from Concordia-Milwaukee. He finished 10th in the Decathlon and he won the javelin. He’s only a Junior, so watch out!
Brock Solveson
I also talked with Nakeisha Jones, a freshman from Tufts. She finished second in the triple jump. She was depressed because her farthest jump this year was two feet farther than the winning jump. She felt that she should have won it this year. She is a very determined athlete! I think this girl has promise. I think she will do big things in the next three years. When it happens, you read it here first!
Nakeisha Jones
The most exciting race was the 4x400 relay final. The MIAC had four teams in the final. St. Thomas was seeded first, Bethel was second, Gustavus third and Hamline was seeded sixth. I figured this would be lots of fun. I thought it almost was going to be like another conference meet with so many MIAC teams in the final.
St. Thomas took off to an early lead. Andy Marnach ran a great leadoff leg. Brant Leuhman ran a great second leg, but Hamline was still in seventh place.
The end of the second leg of the 4x400 relay
Tyson Molitor ran a 47.5 split and put Hamline in the thick of things. St. Thomas ended up keeping the lead the entire way and held off Bethel who made a late charge at the end of the race to pass them. Nebraska Wesleyan finished third. Hamline finished fourth with another great effort from Brent Nelson with a 47.2 split. Gustavus was right behind them in fifth place. The MIAC took four of the top five spots in the nation. I think this was probably the best finish by any conference in the history of the 4x400 relay at the national meet. Again, way to go MIAC!
3rd through 8th place - 4x400 relay - 4th leg
Hamline’s time of 3:12.66 was a new school record. They broke the record that I held with Dave Ryan, Mike Mueller and Brent Langford. We held the record with 3:13.77 for 24 Years and it was finally broken this year. I don’t think that record will be broken for quite a while unless those same guys break it next year. They have three of the four back next year. It should be fun watching them run next year.
Hamline's new 4x400 school record holders - 3:12.66
Runners from the 1st & second place all time 4x400 relays at Hamline
Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the meet with 46 points, McMurray finished second with 40 points and St. Thomas finished third with 39 points. Way to go Tommies! They had a great meet and with a couple more things going their way, they could have won the entire meet.
After the meet, I went with Hamline’s team and a couple of the parents who went out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant. The food was excellent and I even got to chat with the owner. He was a very nice guy and he also road a new Harley Fat Boy. This is a definite recommendation for a restaurant when you are in Parkersburg, WV. They are even starting a bike night on Thursdays.
After dinner, I went back to the campsite and I’m going to make it an early night. I need to get up really early and head to Washington DC so that I can ride in the Rolling Thunder parade.
