Results

The St. Catherine University track and field team has set several school records in multiple events throughout the outdoor season. And now, for the second Wednesday in a row, Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn./Harding) and Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) set school records to highlight a solid outing for the Wildcats at the University of St. Thomas Tommie Twlight Meet Wednesday evening in St. Paul. 

Both Wells-Johnson and Besch bettered their previous records set a week ago in the 100-meter hurdles and javelin, respectively, with both finishing third in their events. Wells-Johnson clocked a 15.18 to break her own record in the prelims and to qualify for finals before racing to a remarkable 15.02 mark in the finals. She was third behind an unattached runner and competitor from Division I University of Minnesota. 

In the javelin, Besch used a throw of 36.54 meters (119-10) to set a new personal record (PR) and better her previous throw by nearly two feet. Her mark was also the best by a MIAC competitor on the day. 

The javelin also yielded two other notable performances as Dani Breault (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) moved up to No. 5 all-time at St. Kate's with a PR throw of 34.45 meters (113-0). Her mark was nearly two meters better than her previous best and was good enough for fifth overall. Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn./Greenbush-Middle River) also had a PR in the javelin with a mark of 28.54 meters (93-7). 

In addition to her solid performance in the javelin, Kirkeide also led the Wildcats in a solid team showing in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:26.4 – a near three-second PR in the event for the sophomore. Emily Hohenshell (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) clocked a six-second PR time of 2:34.26, while Ellie Cardinal (Burnsville, Minn./Eastview) also had a personal-best with a time of 2:36.00.

The top distance performance came from Jenna McElroy (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a season-best time of 11:40.13. She was less than a second off her PR and competed in the event for the second time over the course of four days. 

Mariah Stout (Bellvue, Idaho/Wood River), Rachel Hall (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Michelle Perri (Plymouth, Minn./Osseo) also had solid showings in the 5,000-meter run as both recorded new PR times. Stout clocked in at 19:46.68 with Hall right behind at 20:04.07 and Perri crossing the line in 21:38.20. 

Brittany Moore (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) had her best performance of the outdoor season so far in the 100-meter hurdles qualifying for the finals. In the prelims, the junior ran a season-best time of 15.88, before finishing sixth in the finals with an even better time of 15.72. 

Other solid sprint performances came from Megan Thoemke (White Bear Lake, Minn./Mahtomedi) and Marie Morrier (Hudson, N.H./Academy of Science and Design). Thoemke placed third in the 400-meter dash with a PR time of 1:01.21, while Morrier clocked in with a personal-best time of 1:04.70 to win her heat. The first-year also had a PR in the 400-meter hurdles clocking in at 1:12.61.

Notable performances in the throws included a fourth-place finish from Claire Vasilis (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) who was just off her PR with a mark of 39.47 meters (129-6). Nicole Szyszka (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) turned in a PR mark in the same event with a toss of 36.79 meters (120-8). 

In the high jump, Sarah Manning (Page, Ariz./Page) collected a 10th-place finish thanks to her season-best mark of 1.50 meters (4-11). Also in jumps, Abigail Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) was fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 10.49 meters (34-5). 

The Wildcats will compete once more before the conference meet. Friday and Saturday the squad returns to Hamline University for the Meet of the Unsaintly. Hammet throw will take place Friday afternoon, while the rest of the events will be held Saturday starting at 11 a.m.  

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