<ll but mighty. That’s the phrase that best describes the women’s track and field team as it heads in the MIAC Championships this weekend at St. Mary’s track. The Knights had a successful outing there earlier in the season and hope to build upon that this Friday and Saturday.
The competition will kick off at 2:00 PM on Friday with the 4 x 100m relay. The women’s team looks to not only finish before as many of their competitors as possible, but also to run faster than the men’s throwers’ relay did at the Rolex meet. After that, Megan Erlandson ’12 will head over to the pole vault and attempt to break the school record while securing a top 5 finish. At approximately the same time Kelly Lovett ’11 will hurl a discus as far as she possibly can as a warm-up for Saturday’s javelin.
The next event on the track that features Carls will be the 400m dash. Brooke Granowski ’13 will look to generate as much excitement as she did the last time she ran the 400 at St. Mary’s and Kelsey Donald ’10 will continue her streak of impressively strong sprint races. After that will be the 800, as Carleton’s premier long sprinters/middle distance runners Kaitlin Randolph ’12 and Clare Franco ’12 aim to qualify for finals and collect some points for the Knights. I personally look forward to seeing Randolph’s full potential for possibly the first time this season as she avoids being boxed in.
Later Donald will take to the track again for the 200m sprint. She has been quite impressive in this event this season, taking her time down almost every week—a trend that looks to continue over the weekend. Following the 200 will be the fast section of the 10,000 meter run. Simone Childs-Walker ’12 is the defending champion in the event. It looks as if Greta Sieve of St. Kate’s will challenge her for the title and I hope she does (for the sake of someone else, of course). Also in the 10k will be Taylor “Effective Capitalization” ffitch ’12. ffitch won the 10k in her last appearance at St. Mary’s and has the track record, despite what the entries say. ffitch took 6th in the event at last year’s championships and hopes to improve upon that, despite not having her trusty training partner by her side.
Following the 10k will be the 4×800 meter relay, as Carleton will put a bunch of talented middle distance runners on the line, including Haley Johnson ’13, Claire Karbon ’13, Carrie Harshbarger ’13, and a little distance runner who needed an event for Friday.
The next day will feature all of the above runners who qualify for finals, plus a few more. Kyla Walter ’11 will look to clear 5 feet in the high jump and Lovett will look to take the javelin crown. Sameena Ahmed ’12 looks to take a few more seconds off her steeplechase time, and Laura Roach ’10 will improve upon her performance from the previous year, despite a nagging plantar fascitis problem. I’ve never seen anyone rehab so diligently, so if anyone can pull it off, she can.
Later in the afternoon Amy Elson ’10 will compete in the one event she hasn’t over the last week, her beloved triple jump. After some more rounds of finals, the 5000m runners will take to the track. Childs-Walker, also the defending champ in the 5k, will look to repeat. ffitch will go for another improvement from last year in this event, this time with her trusty training partner, not by her side (that would involve running farther than the minimum), but breathing down her neck. Additionally, Nikki Reich ’10, Julie Besenbrush ’13, and Shannon Mueller ’12 will be competing in the event. If you ever wonder how the Knights do so well in cross-country, there’s your answer.
The last event will be the 4×400 meter relay and the team will look to place higher than they are seeded. At the conclusion of all this competing, the team scores will be tallied and Carleton will look to be quite high in the standings. All in all, it will be quite the event at St. Mary’s this weekend, as the Knights will be hyped up on endorphins from their spectacular performances.