Results 

Story by: Michelle Perri ('18)

Northfield, Minn. – With one week to go until the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championship, the St. Catherine University track and field team continues to roll. This time, the Wildcats were in top form at the St. Olaf Ole Women's Invite at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, as for the third straight week, multiple student-athletes from St. Kate's earned personal records (PR), top-10 times and season best performances.

The meet began with a phenomenal performance by the 4x200 meter relay consisting of Liliya Kirkova (Burnsville, Minn. / Burnsville), Megan Thoemke (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Mahtomedi), Liza Leja (Abrams, Wis. / Oconto Falls) and Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn. / Harding). Wells-Johnson, who anchored the relay, edged out St. Olaf at the finish line, giving the team a first place victory with a time of 1:48.12. This time is a second and a half faster than last week's performance and now ranks No. 3 all-time in school history.

Several other notable performances came from the sprint crew as well. Wells-Johnson won the 60-meter hurdles with a season best time of 9.29, while Kirkova came back to win both the 60 meter dash and take third in the 200 meter dash. The 60 dash was won with a time of 8.13, now No. 5 all-time in program history, but her most impressive performance came in the 200 meter dash. The freshman ran a PR time of 27.05, which also ranks in the top-10 in St. Kate's history, falling at No. 3.

Junior Ici Kelley (Robbinsdale, Minn. / St. Louis Park) also had an impressive showing, with a PR time of 9.22 in the 60 meter dash and a PR of 31.19 in the 200 meter dash.

Thoemke also found success after the 4x200 relay by winning the 400 meter dash with a time of 62.87.

Over on the distance side of the track, freshman Leighlin Ahsltrom (White Bear Lake, Minn. / White Bear Lake) broke through the top-10 list in the mile with a time of 5:30.9, which was not only a PR for the first year but also the No. 8 time in school history. Michelle Perri (Plymouth, Minn. / Osseo), Bryana Waage (Valencia, Cal. / Hart), and Sam Witmer (Troutdale, Ore. / Reynolds) ran PRs in the mile as well with times of 5:43, 5:48, and 6:25 respectively.

In the 1000 meter run, Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn. / Greenbush-Middle River) was the fourth distance runner to record a PR, crossing the finish line in 3:10.85, a time that is No. 7 all-time at St. Kate's.  

Other distance runners that recorded season best times were Jackie Brine-Doyle (Merrifield, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) in the mile (5:50.67) and Stacey Wherley (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) in the 800 meter run (2:33.83).

The field performances were just as impressive as the ones on the track. Megan Pohlmann (Grey Eagle, Minn. / Long Prairie-Grey-Eagle) won the weight throw with a mark of 14.33 meters, while Kaylea Hoenigschmidt (Ramsey, Minn. / Anoka) threw a season best in the same event of 12.96 meters. 

Over in the high jump, sophomore Johna Radke (Muskego, Minn. / Muskego) came in second overall, after a jump-off, with a height of 1.51 meters, a season best for her.

Next week the Wildcats finish their indoor season at the MIAC Championship over at St. Thomas University. More information, including the Championship preview, will be available next week.