Results

The St. Catherine University track and field team has had a spectacular outdoor season and hoped for one more set of solid performances before the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships next weekend. In their final meet before the conference competition, the Wildcats received solid contributions across the board at the Hamline University Meet of the UnSaintly Saturday in St. Paul. 

As she has done all season, Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn./Harding) led the Wildcats with two top performances in the sprints. First, the sophomore won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.32. She also ran the second-fastest time of the day in the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles at 15.09. 

The Wildcats also had a handful of St. Kate's top 10 times and marks with a majority coming in the distance events. Leading the way were seveth and eighth place finishes, respectively, from Jenna McElroy (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) and Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn./Greenbush-Middle River) in the 1,500-meter run. Senior McElroy set a new personal record (PR) when she crossed the line in 4:58.73 to move to No. 7 all-time at St. Kate's, while Kirkeide was just behind with the new No. 9 all-time finish with a time of 4:59.13.

Natalie Barclay (South Barrington, Ill./Christian Liberty Academy) also had a PR finish in the 3,000-meter steeplchase with a time of 13:46.27 that now moves her to No. 9 all-time at St. Kate's in the event. 

The final top 10 finish came Friday during the hammer throw as Claire Vasilis (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) had a new PR with a mark of 40.57 meters (133-1). Her throw is now No. 8 all-time at St. Kate's. 

The Wildcats also had two top-five finishes in the javelin throw with Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and Abigail Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) taking third and fourth, respectively. School-record holder Besch threw a mark of 32.37 meters (106-2), while Palmer had a season-best mark of 30.70 meters (100-9). 

The Wildcats had seven additional performances from a number of athletes in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter races. Shannon Strickland (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) had the top finish in the 800-meter with a time of 2:25.13, while Ellie Cardinal (Burnsville, Minn./Eastview) had a PR of 2:35.66 as did Jenna Thompson (Maple grove, Minn./Osseo) at 2:35.78. Michelle Perri (Plymouth, Minn./Osseo) also had a huge drop from her indoor time in her debut with a time of 2:43.77). 

In the 1,500-meter run, Mariah Stout (Bellevue, Idaho/Wood River) clocked in with a PR of 5:09.68, while Rachel Hall (Mendota Heights, Minn.) finished in a PR time of 5:11.49. Perri also had a PR in the event with a time of 5:34.82. 

The final PRs of the day came in the 400-meter hurdles from Marie Morrier (Hudson, N.H./Academy of Science and Design) and Johannah Wyrick (Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert). Morrier clocked in at 1:11.73, while Wyrrick crossed in 1:14.41. 

One final notable finish came from Brittany Moore (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) who finished second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.83 after dropping time from her prelim finish of 16.04. 

The Wildcats will compete at the MIAC Championships beginning next Friday at Macalester College in St. Paul. All meet information for the two-day event can be found on the championships site. 

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