COMPLETE RESULTS
Napersville, IL––The MWilliams College men's track and field team concluded competition today at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Ephs competed today in three events: co-captain Tobias Muellers '18 in the heptathlon; co-captain Peter Hale '17 in the 3000 meter run; and first-year Magnus Herweyer '20 in the shot put.
After the first day of competition, Muellers was in 11th position in the standings, with the 60 meter hurdles, the pole vault, and the 1000 meter run left to go. Starting with the 60 meter hurdles, Muellers worked to increase his place in the standings to an All-American and scoring spot (top 8). Muellers ran a time of 8.86 in the event (777 points), 9th best in the meet and a new personal best.
Returning immediately for the pole vault, Muellers vaulted to surpass the bar at 4 meters (617 points), good for 9th again in the standings. With just the 1000 left, Muellers was still in 12th in the standings, and needed an incredible finish to reach All-American status.
Competing with grit and rising to the occasion, Muellers had his incredible finish. He ran a personal best by 8 seconds, running a 2:39.92 (874 points), 2nd best on the day. With such a strong performance, Muellers rose in the final standings to 8th place, garnering the coveted All-American status, and scoring 1 point for the Ephs.
In the shot put, Magnus Herweyer showed that he has a very bright future at Williams. One of just two first-years in the field, Herweyer fouled on two of his three throws, but managed an impressive mark of 15.65m, good for 13th place overall. Herweyer should be poised to have an outstanding outdoor season, being even more accomplished at the discus –– which is not contested indoors –– than he is at the shot put.
But the highlight of the entire meet for the Ephs was the 3000 meter run. Senior Peter Hale, who a year earlier had finished 4th in the event and came in with the fastest seed time, ran the consummate race.
He took the early lead, pacing the field through the first mile in 4:34, a somewhat pedestrian pace for the quality of the field. Hale relinquished the lead to a Colby competitor for 400 meters, before retaking the lead with 1000 meters to go and making an extended push for the tape.
One by one, Hale broke his competitors, until with 400 meters left to run, just one competitor remained on his shoulder. Hale redoubled his efforts, gaining some separation at the bell and then running clear by the final turn. Hale crossed the finish line in 8:17.76, over 2 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. He ran his last 400 meters in 57 seconds, his last 800 in 2:02, and his last mile in 4:17 –– the last mile time was actually a personal best for the talented distance runner.
Hale is the 4th Eph Indoor NCAA Champion, and the first distance runner. He is the first NCAA champion for Williams in track, indoors or outdoors, since 2010. The 10 points that he scored for the Ephs raised the team in the standings from 38th to a tie for 12th, where they finished.
Head Coach Ethan Barron was full of praise for his team, saying "these past two weeks, this team has flipped a switch. They now realize that their goals are in their control. And if they run with purpose and will, we can do some special things. As that moves over to how we train and live, I honestly can't tell you where this ride will stop."
This meet concludes the indoor season for Williams. The Ephs will next compete, outdoors, at the Aztek Invite on March 24.
