Results

COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. – For the past few years, the St. Catherine University track and field team has put together its best performances at the Saint John's Invite. That trend continued on Saturday, as several Wildcats put together season and career best performances in multiple events despite a stiff head wind.

St. Kate's was paced by the mid-distance runners Saturday afternoon, as Shannon Strickland (Rochester, Minn. / Lourdes) and Teagan Tretter (Kronenwetter, Wis. / DC Everest) provided some of the top highlights of the day. Strickland recorded a new personal record (PR) in the 800 meter run in dominating fashion. The senior dropped a second from her previous personal best time and finished the race in 2:24.36, which was not only the fourth fastest time in her heat, but the fourth fastest time in the race as a whole.

Tretter was also impressive in her first trip to Collegville, as she carded a new PR in the 400 and made a strong debut in the 200 meter dash. Tretter's PR of 66.93 in the 400 allowed her to finish in 10^th and she impressed in the 200 with a time of 31.21 seconds.

Several other Wildcat distance runners found success on the track, especially in the 1500 meter run. Leighlin Ahlstrom (White Bear Lake, Minn. / White Bear Lake), Jackie Brine-Doyle (Merrifield, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) and Michelle Perri (Plymouth, Minn. / Osseo) all recorded new PRs in the race while Sam Witmer (Troutdale, Ore. / Reynolds) was just one second off her PR time as well. Ahlstrom was St. Kate's top finisher in the race with a 14^th place finish and a time of 5:17.86 while Perri was just three places behind with her time of 5:23.64. Brine-Doyle finished the race in 5:29.71 and Witmer clocked in a time of 5:48.62.

St. Kate's also out together several strong performances in the field events. Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / John Marshall) won the long jump event in her season debut with a season-best jump of 5.43 meters and also finished in the top-15 in discuss. However, the Wildcats were strongest in the hammer throw events. Although official results weren't available at the end of the day, Katelyn Byers-Carter (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson) and Megan Pohlmann (Grey Eagle, Minn. / Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) each had career days in the event while Kaylea Hoenigschmidt (Ramsey, Minn. / Anoka) showed consistency. Byers-Carter and Pohlmann both recorded PRs in the event while Hoenigschmidt scored another impressive performance after her huge PR last weekend.

In the sprint events, Liliya Kirkova (Burnsville, Minn. / Burnsville) finished fifth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.25, and Kanani Asuncion (Rochester, Minn. / Century) recorded a PR in the 200 meter dash with a time of 29.23.

St. Kate's will return to action on Wednesday, when it competes in the Hamline Women's Twilight at Hamline University.