Luke Siegle – Staff Writer
As the month of February came to a close, the Gustavus Men’s Track team had one more chance to make their mark on their indoor season with the conference meet that happened this past Friday and Saturday, February 25 and 26. A team that was hungry for top results and all-around success had to overcome some significant injuries to some of its top runners but still battled to get as many points as they could. When everything was all said and done the Gusties placed tied for sixth.
“We’re a scrappy team and we went in there and tried to claw out as many points as we could. Wanted to try to take points away from other teams and I think we did that very well even with injuries. And even the guys that weren’t hurt jumped up and got points for us which was spectacular,” said team captain and Senior sprinter, Wyatt Quiring.
Quiring had a successful meet himself as he placed 6th in the 400 Meter Dash on Friday and then ran three races on Saturday. It started with the 4×200 Meter Relay which included Juniors Seth Zeitchick and Peter Oviguian, and First-year Nathan Le. Along with Quiring, the four ended up finishing in third place, which was impressive given the fact that two of the usual starters in the 4×200 Meter Relay were out with injury.
Quiring then ran the 200 Meter Dash where he placed 7th with a time of 22:95. He concluded his conference meet in the 4×400 Meter Relay where he, Zeitchick, Senior Noah Johnson, and Junior Jack Marble teamed up for a 6th place finish with a time of 3:31.21.
“I thought we showed a lot of heart as a team. I’m very proud to be a part of this team and a captain on this team. The injuries were tough but I was very proud of the way that our team stepped into their roles,” Quiring said after the meet.
Another Gustie that performed well at the conference meet was Senior distance runner Jack Degonda. He set a new personal record (PR) in the 1 mile run with a time of 4:26.59 which was good for a 13th place finish. He also ran the Distance Medley Relay alongside Zeitchick, First-year Markus Rupnow, and Junior Tucker Wallin. Together the four runners finished in 4th place with a time of 10:32.58. Degonda wrapped up his weekend with the 1000 Meter Run where he finished with a PR time of 2:37.59.
All in all, Degonda’s success was a testament to his consistency all year. “I never really had a race that wasn’t good. All my races I was proud of and I was proud that I was able to put the effort out there that I did because in previous years it’s been tough for me to begin and end a season in the same spot. I usually get tired or burnt out, but I was able to stay on top of injuries and listen to how my body was feeling and that ended up paying off,” Degonda said.
Sophomore sprinter Matthew Skelly also had a successful conference meet in his first season with the Gusties. Skelly, a transfer from Grand Canyon University ran a blazing 6.78 second 55 Meter Dash to finish 14th overall in the race. “My goal was to PR again and do better then my seed time,” Skelly said. He did just that, as he was seeded 16th going into the race, but placed a couple of spots higher and also outdid his seed time of 6.80 seconds to earn a new PR.
For Skelly, this is only the beginning as he continues to get faster in his first year back on the track since his junior year of high school. “Once I got in shape, I started to work on getting my speed back and I still have a lot of room to improve. I think the outdoor season will give me the opportunity to increase my top speed and show that I can improve in it,” Skelly said.
With the outdoor track season starting up in the next couple of weeks, the team is excited to get going and goals are high. “Moving onto that bigger 400 track with wide turns feels amazing, weather starts warming up which naturally puts everyone in a good mood. As for our goals, I think as a team we can definitely place top three. We gain some pieces from guys coming from winter sports like hockey and basketball. So I think we’re a team that adds a lot of pieces. So with that, we just keep on improving, getting our pieces back, and hopefully, we will be at full force by the time that May conference meet comes around,” Quiring said.
However before the team completely shifted their focus to the outdoor season it was important for them to reflect on the great indoor season they had and give shoutouts to their exceptional coaching staff. “I just want to say a big thanks to our coach, Becki Staley. She’s our rock and a great coach and sets high expectations for us. She’s the reason we were able to keep focused and make it this far this season and pull as many points as we did as a mid-distance crew,” Degonda said.
“For me, Coach Aaron Lund was extremely welcoming and supportive. He has helped me through all the steps and has always been there for me,” Skelly said.
“I just want to give huge praise to the team. The coaches are all phenomenal. You could shout out all of them. I see them putting their whole heart into this team every week,” Quiring said.