< hearing about the performances at the MIAC Championships, you may have been wondering, “What’s next?” As it turns out, track was not quite over. The week following the conference championships a number of Knights trekked over to competitions termed “Last Chance Meets” for exactly that: a last chance. Kelly Lovett ’11 headed up to La Crosse to toss spears, throwing a new school record distance of 44.80 m to better the automatic qualifying mark for the national competition. Her throw ranks her as second in the country at this time.
Another contingent of Knights, comprised of Clare Franco ’12, Kaitlin Randolph ’12, and Laura Roach ’10 headed to Illinois to have their shot at a free ticket to Ohio. Franco ran a season’s best time of 58.99 in the 400m dash. I am impressed, especially considering the fact that her hamstring has refused to cooperate at all this season. Randolph ran a speedy 2:16 half-mile, demonstrating that her time is no fluke. Roach broke 11 minutes in the 3000m steeplechase, improving upon her time from the MIAC Championships.
As far as plane tickets to Ohio go, Lovett and Simone Childs-Walker ’12 were the lone Knights selected to compete at the national championships. Roach was the first one out from the meet in the steeplechase. Lovett threw the javelin while Childs-Walker ran the 10k yesterday and tomorrow Childs-Walker will compete in the 5k. Both athletes earned All-American status at last year’s championships in these events and wish to garner more honors. These ladies will have great competition and we look forward to their triumphant return.