By Emily Howland

The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in their second indoor meet of the season Saturday at the Bethel Open. They went head to head with Bethel, Augsburg, St. Catherine, Northwestern (Minn.), University of Minnesota, and a few competitors from St. Olaf and Carleton. In women’s distance, Adelaide Pagano ’09 won the 3000-meter by 30 seconds with a time of 11minutes, 40.79. The team saw strong performances in the 1000-meter run, where Emma Swinford ’12 placed second (3:19.66) and was followed by Skyler Larrimore ’11 in fourth (3:38.39) and Devon Kristiansen ’12 in fifth (3:44.87).

Jenni Schubert ’11 placed third in the weight throw (35-10 / 10.93m) and fourth in the shot put (30-9 ¬ / 9.38m). Team captain Maddie Mette ’10 and Mari Mejia ’11 made the 55-meter dash finals, where Mette took fourth (7.87) and Mejia took sixth (8.08).

“My season is starting better than last season in terms of the 55-meter dash. I complained that my back hurt and coach took it too seriously and took me out of my other two races,” Mette said.

In the 400-meter dash, Emily Matthews ’10 came in third (62.78). Matthews also had the seventh best time out of 17 contestants in the 200-meter dash (28.00).

The girld have their sights set on beating Carleton, their number one goal this season. If this goal is met, Mette said the girls plan to run a naked 400 in an undisclosed location.

On the men’s side, Martin Stenman Andersson ’10 led the Scots, winning the 400-meter dash (52.69) by a mere 1/100 of a second. The 200-meter dash saw a third place finish by Andrew Yokom ’09 (23.13). Yokom also made the finals of the 34-runner 55-meter dash, where he placed fourth (6.65).

In the 1000 meters Franz Meyer ’09 came in third (2:43.42) and Wade Ekstrom ’09 also finished third in the 26-runner 1-mile run (4:21.53). Right behind Ekstrom in the mile, with a sixth-place finish (4:30.98), was Ollie St. John ’12.

Kevin Williams ’09 came in sixth in the 200-meter dash (23.75) and Wade Miller ’09 (Alden, Minn. / Alden-Conger) was eighth in the weight throw (41-4 ¬ / 12.60m).

Spencer Retelle ’11, who began running track last year as a distance runner said the team has a positive moral and attitude about competitive running instilled by the coach’s positive reinforcement.

“It’s awesome to have a coach that is proud of me as long as I do my best,” Retelle said. “Whenever I was disappointed he said you did your best but you might not have had the best race. He’ll focus on the positive ten times more than the negative.”

The distance team is looking strong in the conference, according to Retelle. With a mixture of rookies and seasoned runners, the team has a good dynamic that allows for growth.

“There’s so much talent on our team,” Retelle said.

The sprinters, however, have always struggled with depth, Mette said. With four female sprinters, all experienced runners, the team depends on that base to carry them through the season.

“Running is painful. It’s one of the most painful things you can do. You can’t dribble a ball around someone. It’s all about body performance and technique,” Mette said.

When asked what the hardest event in track and field is, Mette said the 400 because it’s physically an all out sprint for 400 meters. Retelle on the other hand, said he thought the mile was the hardest event.

The Scots’ next meet is on Valentine’s Day at Carleton’s Meet of the Hearts.