<r, Carleton’s women’s cross-country team even surprised themselves at the conference meet. Sure, they believed they could win it, but they definitely weren’t expecting to dominate.
The Carls scored a team low 33 points to capture the title over St. Olaf, who scored 52 points. It’s not easy to score only 33 points. Remember—the top five finishers’ place total is the team score. The Knights accomplished this feat by placing first, second, third, seventh and twentieth. This is only the second recorded time that a team has swept the top three spots (the metaphorical podium) at the conference championship.
As predicted, Simone Childs-Walker ’12 took the top spot. She got off the line well and nobody else really wanted to run with her. She was followed by Alison Smyth ’12 and Rachael Klehm ’13. Klehm put together a complete race, pushing Smyth to her best. Taylor ffitch’s ’12 friend Penelope supported ffitch throughout the race, resulting in only one Ole (the defending champion) beating her.
Becca Herd ’15 used her soccer skills to overcome a fall in the last 200m and seal the victory for the Knights. Kaitlin Randolph ’12 turned in another fantastic performance, finishing just three places back from Herd and ensuring that six Knights received All-Conference or All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. That’s a lot.
Haley Johnson ’13 continued her fantastic season by landing a spot on the regional team with her seventh runner performance. She was followed closely by Colette Celichowski ’15, averaging a solid 6:31 pace for the 3.7 mile course. Carrie Harshbarger ’13 fought an upset stomach to run nearly a minute faster than last year. She was chased by Emily Hillmer ’15, who beat her PR by 20 seconds. Aly Wisekal ’14 and Shannon Mueller ’12 were the next Knights across the finish line, working together.
Aurora Janes ’15 hit 25:00, a minute faster than her first race of the season. Lindsay Turchan ’15, Tori Ostenso ’15 and Lauren Chow ’14 finished within seconds of each other in a classic example of pack running. Adrienne Bruder ’14 nearly matched her time from last year as Lucia Childs-Walker ’15 and Ahna Weeks ’15 pushed each other through the finish line.
Milana Socha ’14 ended her season on a positive note as she heads into swimming and Julia Reich ’15 showed off that finishing kick I keep bragging about. Kiera Wilhelm ’15 knocked 47 seconds off her best time. Rachel Kittaka ’12 bravely fought through a crippling foot injury, demonstrating the extent of the mental toughness for which the team is known. Elizabeth Kimberley ’14 had a solid performance to finish off the 6k season.
As a result of these fantastic performances, the Knights have jumped up to the number one ranking in the region. Still, though, few are certain that any ranking will paint a target big enough to drown out the fluorescent green jerseys of the Oles. Speaking of Oles, the Knights fought the Oles yesterday in the Great Karhue Shoe Race. More details will come next week.