<ee-way split squad equals thrice the fun, right? Well, the Knights did just fine in that situation. Last weekend, the women’s track team competed at MSU-Mankato and St. Olaf, achieving excellent marks at both venues.
On Friday night, the contingent of Simone Childs-Walker ’12, Alison Smyth ’12 and Taylor Fitch ’12 took on the University of Minnesota and some Division II schools in the 3000-meter race, with Childs-Walker and Smyth placing second and third respectively. The trio now occupies the top three spots on the conference performance list for that distance. They returned to campus to greet the throwers, Kao Sutton ’14 and Avery Johnson ’15, who had just vanquished the Oles in the weight and shot with their excellent footwork.
The next morning the sprinters (of the short and long varieties), a vaulter, and a couple of middle distance runners went to Mankato to continue out-racing the Gophers. Sarah Trautman ’13 and Colette Celichowski ’15 proved that Carleton needs the 4 x mile to be instituted as a conference race. The Knights now hold the top five spots in the conference at that distance, with Kaitlin Randolph ’12 in the seventh spot, on her first time at that distance.
Speaking of people trying out new distances, Megan Erlandson ’12 rocked the 800, running a 2:26 to put her at second in the conference behind teammate Clare Franco ’12 and just a quarter of a second ahead of Celichowski. Did I mention that Randolph and Anna Persmarck ’15 hold spots five and six?
With the mile and the 800 covered, Haley Johnson ’13 decided she ought to run the 1000. She placed seventh in the event, just missing her personal best by six hundredths of a second while putting herself at the top of the performance list. Claire Karbon ’13 and Aurora Janes ’15 experimented with the fun MIAC event, though you wouldn’t have known it.
Also, Clare Franco is back. Watch out. She placed eighth in the 600-meter dash, despite an erratic leader and getting boxed in, followed by Ellie Wilson ’15. Wilson is good. Watch out. Put the two of them with Persmarck and Johnson, and you get a 4:05 4x400m relay. When was the last time Carleton did that? The early ‘90s.
Want to watch some of the action? The Knights host St. Benedict’s tonight at 5 p.m. at the Rec Center, with the women racing and the men’s team officiating. Don’t understand track and field? Never fear—John Davis ’11 will be there to explain.