<st Friday the women’s track team dueled against St. Ben’s, with the Fellahs officiating the competition. It went quite well, with a school record and a number of individual event winners.
You’ll recognize the name of the school record setter, Megan Erlandson ’12. She broke her own mark set in the pole vault two weeks ago, soaring 10’ 6 ¼”. That wasn’t the only field event with some success, as the shot putters put the shots quite far. Kelly Lovett ’11 took the top mark in that event, winning by a solid meter. She is currently tenth in the conference in that event. In addition to Lovett, Kao Sutton ’14 tossed the shot straight down the sector, using a powerful rotation to take 3rd in the event. Other Knights stepped out for strong performances, with Elissa Walter ’13 competing the first time this season, as well as Clare Franco ’12. Franco is one of the team’s multi-eventers, putting lots of hard work into mastering every event.
Franco is not the only multi-eventer though, as Kyla Walter ’11 took 4th in the pentathlon held that evening. In the process she equaled her best in the high jump, lowered her best in the 55m hurdles, and took on the 800m. Carleton didn’t have anyone competing in the half mile, but their famed half-milers, Kaitlin Randolph ’12 and Haley Johnson ’13 proceeded to take on the competition in two other events, the 600m and 1000m. Randolph took command of the 600, placing second in a time that puts her at 5th in the conference. Johnson engaged in a battle in the 1000m, edging the second place performer by 4 one-hundredths of a second and running a time that puts her at second in the conference. Carleton’s other representatives in the 1000 ran extremely well, with Sarah Trautman ’13 taking third in an impressive 3:10 and Madison Wagener ’13 only five seconds behind.
In the shorter events, Alex Dunn ’11 ran a season’s best time in the 400m, while the Maggies ran strong races in the 200m, their firsts of the season. All of Carleton’s entrants in the 55m dash (Rachel Gottesman ’12, Sami Kemper ’14, and Maggie Smythe ’14) qualified for the finals and Maggie Sullivan ’14 entered her first hurdle race of the season.
In the longer events, Emily Fritz-Endres ’11 experienced her first track race ever, running a solid 5:39 mile to take second. Lauren Chow ’13 and Shannon Mueller ’12 lowered their times from two weeks ago, as did Laura Newcombe ’13 (Newcombe by a whole lot). In the other long event, Simone Childs-Walker ’12 continued to dominate, running a ridiculous 10:01. She was foiled in her attempt to lap the entire field, however, by teammate Alison Ffitch ’12. Ffitch ran a solid time to ensure a position in the fast heat at the conference meet. Rachel Kittaka ’12 also ran well, despite St. Ben’s attempt to trick her into stopping after 14 laps instead of the requisite 15.
Following the individual events, the relays took place. Johnson, Randolph, and Dunn roped Sullivan into competing in the 4x400m relay and they lowered the team’s season best, taking second in the event. Carleton also put together a DMR to give the milers (and Trautman) something else to do and they qualified for the conference meet.
The Knights last home meet of the season is tomorrow and you should come and support your classmates. The Meet of the Hearts begins at 10:00 AM at the Rec Center with the 5000m race. There will be lots of good competition and I hope to see you there!
Alison Smyth is a member of the women’s track and field team.
