| Results | MIAC Release |

NORTHFIELD, MINN. – There is never a better time to run fast than in the ultimate meet of the season. That is exactly what the St. Catherine University track and field team did on Day 1 of the 2016 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Championships at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Led by sprinters Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn. / Harding) and Brittany Moore (Maplewood, Minn. / North St. Paul), the Wildcats had several athletes place and record personal best scores to help them finish eighth after day one of MIAC Championship competition.  

Wells-Johnson had the best performance in St. Kate's history in the 55 meter hurdles. The junior sprinter qualified for the event's finals, then shaved 22 seconds off her 8.67 qualifying mark to not only take second place, but brake the school record as well.  Wells-Johnson finished the race in 8.45 seconds, a personal best, to break the previous school record that was set by her teammate Moore at the MIAC Indoor Championships last season.

Moore also had an extremely successful day of competition. She entered the competition as one of the top hurdlers and sprinters in the conference and qualified for finals in the both the 55 meter hurdles and 55 meter dash. Moore finished third in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.48, just hundredths of a second behind teammate Wells-Johnson. Her time was also a top-10 time in St. Kate's history, meaning Moore and Wells-Johnson remain the top two sprinters in the 55 meter hurdles in school history.

Moore also qualified for the second sprint event of the night: the 55 meter dash. She ran the all-out sprint in 7.48 seconds in the preliminary and ran the exact same time in the finals. The race needed a picture finish to determine the second and third place winner, and Moore was right in the mix. She finished fifth by less than a few centimeters, as Concordia's Hannah Lundstrom and Bethel's Jillian Krier out-reached her by just fractions of an inch in the final push of the sprint.

The Distance Medley Relay team also recorded one of the best performances in school history in the final event of the day. Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn. / Greenbush-Middle River), Megan Thoemke (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Mahtomedi), Shannon Strickland (Rochester, Minn. / Lourdes) and Rachel Hall (Mendota Heights, Minn.) finished the race in under 13 minutes for just the second time in school history. The team finished the race in 12:55.01 to finish fifth in the race and record the second fastest time in St. Kate's history.

First year Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis. / Muskego) was extremely strong in her opening campaign at the MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Radke took sixth in the high jump competition, clearing 1.49 meters to earn points for the Wildcats overall score as a team.

Sophomore Marie Morrier (Hudson, N.H. / Academy for Science and Design) had a career day in the 800 meter run. The middle distance specialist recorded a personal record (PR) of 2:23.88, crushing her previous personal best by a full 10 seconds and easily winning her heat. Morrier finished the race in eleventh overall and was just three seconds off from placing in the top eight. Stacey Wherley (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) also competed in the 800 meter run, finishing with a time of 2:39.90.

St. Kate's also had two runners qualify for the mile race. Michelle Perri (Plymouth, Minn. / Osseo) recorded a personal best time of 5:52.95 after leading her heat for two full laps. Strickland also competed in the mile race and finished with a time of 5:52.65.

Two other sprinters also competed for the Wildcats on day one of the 2016 MIAC Indoor Track and Field competition. Ashleigh Ackley (Gilby, N.D. / Grand Forks Central) finished seventh in her heat of the 55 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 9.52. Thoemke also competed in the 400 meter dash and took sixteenth with a final time of 62.67.

Both Kaylea Hoenigschmidt (Ramsey, Minn. / Anoka) and Megan Pohlmann (Grey Eagle, Minn. / Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) were strong in the weight throw for St. Kate's. Hoenigschmidt took eighth in the event after qualifying for the finals after throwing 13.45 meters in the preliminary rounds. Her top throw was the same distance in the finals, which was a personal best for Hoenigschmidt. Pohlmann made a top throw of 12.18 meters in the preliminaries to finish fifteenth overall.

After a successful day one, the Wildcats sit in eighth place with 23.9 total team points. They are just two points behind MIAC rival Hamline, who sits in seventh with 25.0 total points, and hold a slim lead over Augsburg (22.0).

St. Kate's returns to action tomorrow for the second and final day of the 2016 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championship. Hall, Kirkeide, and several other of the Wildcats top performers will compete in their premiere races, including the 1000 and 3000 meter runs, while Wells-Johnson and Moore will also compete for St. Kate's in the 2x400 and 4x400 relays. In the field events, Hoenigschmidt will be joined by Katelyn Byers-Carter (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) in the shot put event.

For more information on the 2016 MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championship, please visit the MIAC Championships home page.