
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships were held last weekend at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and Thursday the top performers from another outstanding conference championship event were recognized with the announcement of the 2015 MIAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Awards.
The top individual awards were claimed by the top two teams in the standings and the host institution. MIAC champion St. Thomas had Brian Jarvey (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) named Outstanding Track Athlete. Concordia's Brandon Zylstra (Jr., Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) received Outstanding Field Athlete honors, and runner-up St. Olaf had Grant Wintheiser (Sr., Sartell, Minn./Cathedral) earn Outstanding Performance-of-the-Meet honors and Phil Lundin (Seventh season) receive the Coach-of-the-Year award.
The individual honors are accompanied by the announcement of the All-Conference selections and All-Conference Honorable Mention team, which are automatically determined based on performance, and one member of each team was selected to the All-Sportsmanship Team. The top individual awards were voted on by the 11 men's indoor track and field head coaches.
Jarvey was named the top track athlete at the 2014 meet for his role in St. Thomas' 31st-straight MIAC indoor title, as the Tommies have now won the meet in each of its 31 years of existence. Jarvey won a second-straight MIAC title in both the 200- and 400-meter dash, as he won the 200 with a time of 22.52 seconds, and the 400 in 49.37 seconds. He also anchored St. Thomas' first-place 4x400-meter relay team, which finished with a time of 2:23.77, to help him go a perfect 3-for-3 in his MIAC indoor races.
Zylstra's athleticism in the field events electrified the home crowd in Moorhead, and led to his selection as the top field athlete. He soared a distance of 22-7.75 feet or 6.90 meters to capture the MIAC indoor title in the long jump, and he cleared the high jump bar at 6-8.25 feet or 2.04 meters to finish as the runner-up in that event. He scored 18 of his team's 52 points, and helped Concordia earn a sixth-place finish on its home track.
Wintheiser earned his latest MIAC accolade thanks to his brilliant performance to capture a third-straight title in the 3,000-meter run. A year ago, he set the meet record with a time of 8:28.10, and he broke his own record in 2015 with a new all-time best of 8:25.51. Not only does that time now rank as the MIAC meet record, but he'll also enter this weekend's national championships with the second-best 3K time in the nation. Wintheiser was the 2014 MIAC Indoor Outstanding Track Athlete, and the 2014 NCAA Division III cross country national champion is also a three-time MIAC cross country champ and MVP.
Lundin received his latest MIAC coaching honor after leading the Oles to a near-upset of the only team to ever win the MIAC indoor title. St. Olaf challenged St. Thomas all weekend long, and was a close second, 162-142, behind the Tommies. This season, Lundin coached five individual MIAC champions, one first-place relay team, and a total of 10 All-Conference performances. This is Lundin's second MIAC Indoor Coach-of-the-Year award after also receiving the honor in 2013. He now has six total MIAC coaching honors to go along with four in cross country, and he also has four Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year awards from his time at the University of Minnesota.
In addition to the top individual award-winners, the MIAC also recognized the 2015 Men's Indoor Track and Field All-MIAC Sportsmanship team. Also listed below are the 2015 MIAC Men's Indoor Track and Field All-Conference individuals and relay teams. The top three finishers in each individual event and each first-place relay team received All-MIAC honors. Individuals that finished 4-6 and relay teams that finished 2-6 received All-Conference Honorable Mention honors and can be found in the final results.
Fans can re-live all the action of the 2015 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships online. The event home page has complete results, recaps and photo galleries from an exciting weekend.
2015 MIAC MEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD AWARDS
2015 Individual Awards Outstanding Track Athlete Outstanding Field Athlete Outstanding Performance-of-the-Meet Coach-of-the-Year |
2015 All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team |
2015 All-Conference Team
60-meter dash |
4x200-meter relay
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