<-captain Katherine Wingert ’08 ran a provisional NCAA qualifying time of 4:38.78 in the 1500 meters to pace the Carleton women’s track and field team at their first outdoor meet after returning from spring break. Wingert ran the 8th fastest time nationally in NCAA Division III on her way to winning the event on Saturday at the Hamline Invitational.
“I wasn’t expecting to run that kind of time at this point in the season…it’s just about what I had been aiming to run by the end of the season,” commented Wingert. “This is obviously a really good thing though, because it will open up a lot more opportunities to keep improving!” she said.
The rest of the team sported some solid performances, particularly in the 5000 meter run. Karen Campbell ’09 led the charge with her time of 18:19:94, to finish second. Not far behind was Irene Koplinka-Loehr ’10, who finished third in a personal best time of 18:28.57. Nikki Reich ’10 and Laura Sofen ’10 and Alissa Pajer ’08 and Whitney Walter ’08 also achieved personal best times in the event.
Laura Roach ’10 and Lauren Milne ’08 had strong finishes in the 800 meter run, with Roach finishing fourth in 2:22.19, and Milne finishing seventh in 2:25.46. Kelsey Donald led the Knights sprint corps, finishing sixth in the 200 meters and seventh in the 100.
In the field events, Molly Christian ’08 finished third in the discus and fifth in the hammer throw. Kelly Lovett ’11 finished fifth in the shot put.
The Knights will next be in action on Saturday at Gustavus Adolphus. Wingert is excited about the outlook for her team for the upcoming meet and the rest of the season. “We’ve already had a lot of good performances, including several PRs, in the first two meets of the outdoor season,” she said. “We were really able to pick up where we left off at the end of the indoor season. Spring always brings out a lot of energy and excitement on the team, and that should be able to get us to the next level.”
