<rleton College women’s track and field team had a strong spring season and four Knights just missed earning a bid to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. Ruth Steinke ‘16, Colette Celichowski ‘15, Amelia Campbell ‘16, and Kao Sutton ‘14 all turned in All-Conference performances at this season’s MIAC Outdoor Championships, but they just missed qualifying for the national championships.
Steinke finished the season with an outstanding performance at the UW-LaCrosse Qualifier, a “last chance” meet held at the site of this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She trimmed eight seconds off her personal best and won the steeplechase with a time of 11:10.36, just three seconds away from the last time to qualify.
Celichowski also saved her best for last, as she broke the school record in the 1500-meter run at the UW-LaCrosse Qualifier. The last qualifying time in the 1500-meter was 4:35.75, and Celichowski’s record-breaking time of 4:36.21 just was not quite enough.
After her standout rookie-season, Campbell barely missed qualifying for the national meet in both the heptathlon and the long jump. Campbell’s performance at the MIAC Heptathlon earned her All-MIAC distinction, but her 4414 points were not enough to earn her a bid to the national championships. She was only seven points behind the last qualifier. Campbell was also just five inches shy of qualifying for the national long jump competition.
Sutton was also extremely close to qualifying for the national discus competition. Sutton’s best throw of the season was a mere two feet short of earning her a bid to national meet.