<s another spectacular weekend for the Knights, who continued their season with four new school records at the University of Minnesota’s Parents’ Day Open on Saturday, February 22. Colette Celichowski (Jr./Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) set the tone for the meet, running to a fourth place finish in the mile with a breathtaking time of 4:58.08. Celichowski sheared more than seven seconds off her previous personal record, breaking Simone Childs Walker’s 2010 record of 4:59.38 by over one second. With this mark Celichowski now ranks sixth nationally among Division III athletes in the mile. Teammate Ruth Steinke (So./Lima, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) also ran a fantastic race, taking nearly five seconds off her own personal best to finish seventh overall in 5:04.99, a time good for fifth fastest in Carleton history and twenty-sixth nationally. Celichowski and Steinke were the first Division III athletes to cross the line in a heat with competitors representing schools in all three divisions.
Kao Sutton (Sr./Hilo, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools Hawaii) took her already impressive throwing career to a whole new level this Saturday, breaking the shot put school record she set only a week ago three times over the course of the meet. Ultimately, she threw 13.50 meters, a staggering 0.6 meters further than her previous personal best. With this mark Sutton now sits at 14th nationally for Division III competitors.
Amelia Campbell (So./Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sturgeon Bay) continued her absolutely remarkable season this Saturday by once again breaking her own record in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing fifth in a time of 9.03 seconds, 0.06 seconds faster than the record she set at the first meet of the season, and good for 18th nationally. Campbell was the first Division III competitor across the line. Later in the meet, Campbell partnered with Celichowski and teammates Emma Grisanzio (Fy./Carol Stream, Ill./Wheaton North) and Ellie Wilson (Jr./Roseville, Minn./Roseville) to break the school record in the 4×400 meter relay for the second time this season. The Knights held their own against competition from all three divisions to finish 6th out of 18 teams in a time of 4:00.40, over 1.3 seconds faster than the record set by the Carleton 4×400 meter squad two weeks ago.
The Knights had some very solid non-record-breaking performances as well. Prior to contributing to the Knights’ 4×400 meter relay, Wilson ran to a sixth place finish in the 400 meter dash in a time of 58.70 seconds, a seasonal best time in the open 400 meter race, and Grisanzio ran a 27.34 to place 22nd overall in the 200 meter dash. Grisanzio also competed in the high jump, finishing with a mark of 1.54 meters in 11th place. Zoe Peterson (Fy./Bellingham, Wash./Squalicum) also represented Carleton in the field events, ranking seventh in the triple jump with a bound of 10.55 meters, less than a tenth of a meter off the school record, which Peterson tied at the beginning of the season. Campbell and Peterson both competed in the long jump, finishing with marks of 5.54 meters and 4.86 meters for third and seventh, respectively. Katie Richards (Jr./Needham, Mass./Buckingham, Browne & Nichols) competed in the pole vault, achieving a height of 2.76 meters.
The Knights ran tough in the longer races also. Sophie Glassford (So./Mishawaka, Ind./Penn) finished 14th in the 1000-meter run in a time of 3:09.48, followed by teammate Sarah Trachtenberg (Fy./Wayne, Pa./Radnor) in 17th with a time of 3:16.79. The Knights put forth a strong showing in the 3000 meter run as well, with Claire Trujillo (Fy./Anchorage, Alaska/Grace Christian) running to 12th place in a time of 10:44.70, followed closely by teammates Kazia Mermel (Fy./Sherman Oaks, Calif./Notre Dame) in 10:48.92, Sally Donovan (So./Minneapolis, Minn./South) in 10:50.09 and Winona Rachel (Fy./Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) in 10:52.27. Mermel, Donovan and Rachel finished in 14th, 16th and 18th overall. Teammate Emily Hillmer (Jr./Salem, Ore./Blanchet Catholic) backed them up, improving by several seconds to run a 10:56.81 for 22nd place and break the eleven-minute mark for the first time ever, followed by Morgan Richmond (So./Edmonds, Wash./Lakeside School) in 31st with an 11:17.00.