ST. PAUL, Minn. (May 10, 2008) – On a soggy day in St. Paul, the weather conditions couldn’t keep records from falling and the University of St. Thomas from winning the 2008 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field team championship. The Tommies swept the men’s and women’s MIAC team titles for the second time this year, following a sweep at the indoor meet in March.

St. Thomas captured nine event titles on day two, after taking four championships on the first day, en route to totaling 262 points and the team title.

Gustavus came in second with 155.5 points and Concordia rounded out the top three with 83.5 points. The host Hamline Pipers finished fourth with 82.5, Saint Benedict was fourth with 75.5 points, and Bethel was sixth at 54 points. Seventh place went to St. Olaf with 49 points, Carleton was eighth at 40 points, St. Catherine tallied 30 points, Saint Mary’s had 15, Augsburg was 11^th at 5 points, and Macalester had three points.

At Klas Center on the campus of Hamline University, the first five completed women’s events on day saw all five conference champions hit NCAA qualifying marks, starting with the 3000 meter steeplechase.

St. Thomas’ Katie Theisen (Sr., Elko, Minn.) started the track events by recording an NCAA provisional time at 11:07.84 on her way to the event win.

The Tommies’ sprinters brought the team champions plenty of success on the track, starting with the very next event on the track, the 400 meter relay. Shionna Evans (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.), Nikki Arola (So., Chisholm, Minn.), Kate Staat (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) and Jenna Ewing (Fy., Osseo, Minn.) won the event in 48.47, just off their meet record set the day before of 47.84, both times meeting the NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Later in the evening, Arola became a four-time champion on Saturday, duplicating her success with a win and an NCAA provisional time in the 400 meter dash (57.29) and with a win in the 200 meter dash 24.85.

In the last event of the night, she was a member of the winning 1600 meter relay team.

Arola teamed up with Raynee DeGrio (Grand Rapids, Minn.), Evans, Katie Theisen (Sr., Elko, Minn.) to run an NCAA provisional time of 3:55.24, clinching the event championship.

Staat and Ewing finished one-two in the 100 meter dash, with Staat winning the championship in 12.73 and Ewing finishing in 12.75.

Meet records also continued to fall, in addition to NCAA qualifying marks, as Lisa Brown (Jr., Lake Crystal, Minn.) of Gustavus bested her own MIAC meet record in the javelin throw. Her throw of 48.29 meters (158’ 5”) bested her record set at the 2007. The throw allowed her to successfully defend her title for the third straight year, and also met the NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

Later in the evening, Tommie  Erin Sprangers (So., Hill Murray), broke a 17-year old MIAC meet record and an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 800 meter run at 2:11.66. The previous meet record had been set in 1991 at 2:12.40.

Kelly Lovett (Fy., Portland, Ore.) from Carleton hit the NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a throw of 38.95 meters (127’ 9” ) for second place.

In the 1500 meter run, Bethel’s Marie Borner (So., Cottage Grove, Minn.) brought home the championship with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:39.10. On Friday, Borner broke the MIAC meet record set in 1988 by nearly a second, improving it from 4:33.45 to 4:32.49. The time was also automatically qualified her for the NCAA meet, and was the fastest time in the conference this season.

The triple jump saw the top two competitors set NCAA provisional times, with Selina Dehn (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) of St. Thomas, jumping 11.75 meters (38’ 6 ¾”) for the win. Second place Sari Lindeman (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) of Gustavus jumped 11.44 meters (38’ 6 ¾”) for the other NCAA provisional mark.

St. Thomas brought home a win in the 100 meter hurdles, as Laura Janas (So., Delano, Minn.) won the championship in 15 seconds flat.

In the 400 meter hurdles, the best time in the MIAC this season, and an NCAA provisional qualifying time, was run by Piper Kameron Argiannis (Fy., Eden Prairie, Minn.) on her home track. She won the championship in 63.82.

Shanna Dawson (Sr., Fairmont, Minn.) from Gustavus cleared an NCAA provisional qualifying height of 3.66 meters (12’ 0”) in the pole vault for the championship.

After winning the championship in the discus throw on Friday, Shara Guidry (Sr,. Thief River Falls, Minn.) followed that up with a championship in the shot put on Saturday with a throw of 12.37 meters (40’ 7”).

In the longest race of the day in which the top four runners topped the previous best time in the MIAC, Margot Branigan (So., Roseville, Minn.) ran to the championship, finishing in 17:56.21.