The St. Thomas outdoor track & field teams set multiple program records during the Drake Relays and other meets held from April 22-25, according to an April 27 announcement by St. Thomas Athletics.
The performances are significant as they demonstrate strong progress for both the men’s and women’s programs, with several athletes achieving top rankings in their league and region.
On the women’s side, Olivia Keller led with two new program records: she finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the Gary Wilson Invitational with a time of 58.74 seconds, leading the Summit League and ranking sixteenth in the NCAA Midwest. Keller also set a record in the 800-meter run at Drake Relays (2:06.54), again topping her league and matching her regional standing. The women’s relay teams excelled as well, with Jayi Wilson, Alexis Pratt, Danika Apple, and Cassia Cady setting a new mark of 44.96 seconds in the 4x100m relay—ranking sixth regionally—and a record-setting time of 3:38.78 in the 4x400m relay.
In field events for women, Brooke Wisdom and Morgan Koppelman each cleared heights of 4.08 meters in pole vault at Drake Relays to set new program marks that placed them eleventh regionally and third within their league division. Lauren Rott recorded a hammer throw that ranks second all-time for St. Thomas (50.36 meters), while Alaina French won discus at Rider/Bolstorff Invitational.
For men’s track & field, two relay squads achieved new school records: Samuel Gausmann, Ethan Foote, Ben Batalden, and Cameron Heppner posted a time of 7:28.39 in the Drake Relays’ 4x800m event; Seth Johnson, Jack Rosner, Vincenzo Miller, and Braeden Brouwer ran a shuttle hurdle relay record of 59.58 seconds.
Other highlights included Jack Weigel’s contribution to both sprint relays—helping place third in Drake’s competitive fields—and Andrew Eichmann’s fourth-place javelin throw (57.33 meters) at Gary Wilson Invitational.
St. Thomas will host its only home meet of this season on Wednesday April 29—the Joe Sweeney Invitational—before heading to Madison for Friday’s Badger Challenge.
