<ong>Women Victorious Over Hamline and St. Olaf
With several first-years making their collegiate debuts, the Carleton College women’s track and field team began the 2013 season with a win at the Carleton Triangular held at the Recreation Center. The Knights finished with 110 points, edging out Hamline University (103 points) and St. Olaf College (98) for the victory. Carleton won 10 events with rookies achieving first-place results in eight of those competitions.
The Knights’ first-years fielded many top scores tonight. Kayla McKinsey ’16 gave Carleton the lead in the 55-meter dash, finishing first in a final time of 7.83. Fellow rookie Ruth Steinke ’16 pulled off an impressive double in her first collegiate meet as she swept the two longest races. Steinke had a winning time of 5:20.04 in the mile run and posted a 10-second triumph in the 3000-meter run, finishing in 10:48.77.
A first-year trio of Amelia Campbell ’16, Emma Russ ’16, and Anna Cich ‘16 earned the top three places in the 55-meter hurdles for Carleton, in 8.83, 9.45 and 9.62 seconds respectively.
Campbell also won the high jump at 4 feet, 11 3/4 inches and the long jump at 16 feet, 2 1/2 inches. In the 200-meter dash, she was second to Russ who picked up the victory in 27.72. The final victory for the newcomers came in the 400-meter dash, which Reilly Simon ’16 tore through in 62.31.
The other two victories for the Knights were delivered by more familiar faces. Colette Celichowski ‘15 won the 1000-meter run in 3:04.40, and Haley Johnson ’13 got her final campaign off to a great start with the top time, 2:18.41, in the 800-meter run which bettered her time at the MIAC Indoor Championships and established a new personal best.
Avery Johnson ’15 destroyed her previous person best in the weight throw. A year ago her top result was 9/77 meters. Tonight, she measured 11.93 meters.
“Consistency of training and determination set the tone for our middle distance this evening,” said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. “National qualifiers in cross country season this fall, Haley Johnson, Colette Celichowski, and Ruth Steinke demonstrated that hard work pays off by kicking off their season with some outstanding performances.
“The first years were impressive and it was fun to see that we are developing into a more balanced squad with sprinters, jumpers and distance runners.”
Men Finish Third, Tally Five Individual Wins
In his first ever competition at that distance, C.J. Dale ’13 won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.18 seconds, one of five victories for the Carleton College men’s track and field team on Friday evening, but the Knights came up short in the team competition at the Carleton Triangular as Hamline University (120.7 points) narrowly edged St. Olaf (119.3) and Carleton (98).
First-year Hart Hornor ’16 had another of Carleton’s first-place finishes as he took the lead halfway through the race and won the mile run in 4:34.16.
Carleton’s relays mastered the competition, as the Knights edged St. Olaf in both the 4×200-meter relay (1:33.13) and the 4×400-meter race (3:28.81).
In the field events, Lobo James ‘14 tallied a win for the Knights, out-leaping the competition in the high jump with a personal-best height of 6 feet, 4 3/4 inches.
Second-place finishes in middle-distance events helped to keep the Knights competitive.
Jack Percival ’16 crossed the line at 52.04 in the 400-meter dash. Sophomore Arnaud Kpachavi ’15 also finished on the winner’s heels, running the 600 m event in 1:26.62.
A team of Noah Laack-Veeder ’15, Marcus Huderle ’14, and Joe Haase ’16, took second, fourth and fifth respectively in an enjoyable 1000-meter run. The race field included Laack-Veeder–Carleton’s school record holder for the indoor 800-meter run, Huderle–the 12th-best steeplechaser in the country, St Olaf’s Brian Saksa, and two of the top freshmen in the MIAC, including Carleton’s Haase. The Knights’ trio ran in a cluster with a three-second spread, with Laaack-Veeder finishing in 2:34.64.
Dale followed up his hurdle triumph, which would have ranked him in the top 10 in the MIAC last season, with a solid second-place result in the long jump at a distance of 20 feet, 7 3/4 inches. He also ran on the winning 4×200 relay that already outran Carleton’s entry at last year’s MIAC Championships.
Adan Nunez-Frausto ‘14 had one of Carleton’s best performances in the weight throw in recent years with a distance of 43 feet, 8 3/4 inches.
The Knights will participate in the Minnesota State-Mankato Open on Jan. 25-26. The meet will be just the second of the season for Carleton.