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On November 1st, junior Ruth Steinke won the Women’s Cross Country MIAC Championships to lead the Carleton women’s team to a repeat team title. The victory was the team’s third in four years. Steinke’s blazing finish helped her pull away from Kimber Meyer – Sophomore standout and all-American from Macalester- in the final 1000 meters of the 6000-meter race.
Steinke’s final time of 21:28.4 (a pace of five minutes 45 seconds per mile over 3.73 miles) was only 17 seconds away from the course record, and was the second fastest 6k time ever run at the MIAC championships.
Though Steinke has run all three years as one of Carleton’s top two runners, the MIAC championship win this year completes a breakout season for the Junior. Steinke attributes her success this season (three individual wins in the regular season and a 45 second drop from her personal best 6k time in previous years) to a rediscovery of her passion for running.
Steinke describes feeling worn down and lost during the 2014 indoor track, and contends that support from her coaches and teammates helped her rediscover the joy of racing without fear or overthinking. Steinke’s renewed passion for running certainly helped her train for the current season during the summer, when she
regularly logged sixty to sixty five miles in a week, running as much as thirteen or fourteen miles on weekend days.
Of the coming post-season, Steinke is full of excitement for the potential of the young team. The women’s team (ranked first in the Central Region) will race Saturday November 15th at the Central Region championships, where they will be competing for one of two automatic qualifying bids to the National championships. The road towards Nationals is full of opportunities for Steinke, and she plans to celebrate her burgeoning talent by racing with her team as she continually discovers the places her passion for running can take her.