<st Saturday was another successful day for Carleton’s Women’s Cross-Country team. The team finished fourth at the Roy Griak Invitational, moving up four spots from the year before. The team was also the first in the region, followed by St. Thomas in seventh and Wartburg in eighth. Once again, the Knights’ strength stemmed from their intelligent race strategy, which was clearly seen in the results.
Simone Childs-Walker ’12 led the Knights, letting her competitors do the metal work and then taking third in the race. She was followed by Alison Smyth ’12 in ninth and Taylor Ffitch ’12 in 26th, who clocked her fastest finish ever for the hilly 6k course. Becca Herd ’15 had an impressive showing, moving from 198th at the 1k, to 106th at the half way mark, to 51st by the end.
Herd’s structure represents what the Knights did across the board. Rachel Kittaka ’12 continued her excellent season for Carleton, scoring her first points for the Knights. Haley Johnson ’13 again proved that she is not just a sprinter by beating 300 other competitors in the race. Kaitlin Randolph ’12 finished before the Tommie’s fifth and earned them an extra point, something that could make a huge difference at the conference and regional championships.
Carrie Harshbarger ’13 was the Knights’ eighth, also beating placing Tommies. Lucia Childs-Walker ’15 celebrated her birthday by leading her back and passing 100 people in 21 minutes.
She was closely followed by Ahna Weeks ’15. The newest Wisconsinites to the team, Tori Ostenso ’15 and Lindsay Turchan ’15, powered across the line just behind Weeks. Not to be left behind, Aly Wisekal ’14 was also part of that pack. Emily Hillmer ’15 followed that group, also having passed 100 people throughout the race.
Adrienne Bruder ’14 led the next group of Carls, despite her recently acquired illness. Shannon Mueller ’12 followed her across the line and Anna Persmark ’15 charged through behind. Lauren Chow ’14 barreled through next.
Julia Reich ’15 continued to be a fierce competitor, as Kiera Wilhelm ’15 tweaked her structure slightly to take 20 seconds off her time from the previous week, despite the fact that Griak’s course is much harder and slower than Olaf’s. Annie Doubleday ’14 also had a strong race, as did Elizabeth Kimberley ’14.
The Knights who were resting up their legs also had an impressive day, collecting splits for all six kilometers of the race. This information only served to further energize the team as they prepared for the Blu Gold open, which is happening today in Eau Claire, WI.