<calester displaced its students’ community garden to make way for the new athletic center. Macalester President Brian Rosenberg helpfully noted,"Athletic and recreation facilities are one of the points on campus that define the sort of community a college wants to be," (athletics.macalester.edu). Luckily the Carleton women’s track and field team put this “green” facility to excellent use late into the night last Friday at the Pre-MIAC meet.
It was a day of pure glory for the sprinters and jumpers, many of whom nabbed season-best performances amid the chaos of the meet. Alex Dunn ’11 and Kristine Nachbor ’12 ran their fastest times this season in the 55 meter dash even though they ran the race twice due to a fault in the timing system, and Jill Merkle ’12 continued a streak of positive performances to completely dominate the 55 meter hurdle race with a winning time of 8.82 seconds, the second fastest MIAC time this year. After an intense basketball season and just two days of practice in a highly technical event, Megan Erlandson ’12 effortlessly pole vaulted 2.78 meters (9 feet, 1.5 inches) to qualify for the conference meet.
Laura Roach ’10, Lindsey Nietmann ’09, and Simone Childs-Walker ’12 generously extended their bedtimes to join Clare Franco ’12 in the most frighteningly powerful race of the night. This distance medley relay dream team bulldozed the competition, Carleton’s school record, the previous MIAC record, and the NCAA Division III national provisional qualifying standard as their teammates lined the track to scream helplessly in joy, awe, and encouragement for 12 minutes and 14 seconds.
Although this incredible performance will not be fast enough to award entrance into the national championships, it does provide a useful warning to anyone hoping to chase these women down for an autograph or a handshake—get a road bike with clip-ins.
The women and men’s track and field teams compete in the MIAC conference championships today and tomorrow at Concordia-Moorhead.