<st Saturday the women’s track team headed to Hamline University for its outdoor season debut. The beautiful spring day produced some outstanding performances to match the wonderful weather. The day kicked off with some field events, as Carleton welcomed the return of throwers and a vaulter to the team. Kelly Lovett ’11 and Jessa Youso ’13 competed in the discus, with Lovett throwing nearly 110 feet for a personal best distance. Megan Erlandson ’12 vaulted 10 feet, an outstanding opening performance.
As these events finished up, the running events began. The first race on the track was the 5k and the Knights certainly demonstrated their distance prowess there. Simone Childs-Walker ’12 won the event in an NCAA provisional time of 17:07, ranking her at 5th in the country at this time. Not to be outdone, Laura Roach ’10 also hit the provision time, crossing the finish line in 17:28. Also finishing in the top ten was Taylor ffitch ’12 in her triumphant return to the track after a term in Mexico.
The distance runners weren’t the only ones to experience success, as some of the sprinters turned in personal best times. Clare Franco ’12 crossed the finish line in the 800m at 2:17, using her power to edge out a few runners in the last 25 meters of the race. Boy is it fun to watch that girl finish! It must also be mentioned that Claire Karban ’13 also ran 2 laps around the track, and she broke the 2:30 mark for the first time, running 6 seconds faster than her seed time. In the 400m, Alex Dunn ’11 set a personal record, completing a lap around the track in 65.3 seconds. Kelsey Donald ’10 turned in an outstanding race in the 200m, dipping under the 27-second mark and running faster than she has in years. She just looked incredibly strong and received a time to match.
In other news from the day Kaitlin Randolph ’12 ran her first hurdle race of the season, completing the 400m lows in 70 seconds. The high jump was also a successful event for the Knights, with Kyla Walter ’11 sailing over 4 feet, 11 inches and Amy Elson ’10 clearing 4’ 9”. Jill Merkle ’12 returned to competition as well, traveling a good 15 feet in the long jump.
The team looks to build off these performances as they head across the river to St. Olaf tomorrow. The action kicks off at 9:30 AM with the javelin, shot put, and long jump. It looks to be a beautiful day on the track, mid 60’s and sunny, so if you need an excuse to stop studying, I highly recommend a trip to the Oles’ track.
-Alison Smyth is a member of the Women’s track team.