ST. PAUL, MINN. – It's been a long few months of waiting for the St. Catherine University track and field team. After eight months of training and practice, the Wildcats finally returned to the track for their first meet of the 2017 indoor season. St. Kate's found quite a bit of success Friday evening at the St. Thomas Open at the University of St. Thomas, as multiple student-athletes recorded personal records (PR) and found their way to the top-10 list of times in program history. One of those athletes was senior thrower Katelyn Byers-Carter (Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson), who has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week for her performance at St. Thomas.
Byers-Carter could not have asked for a better start to the 2017 indoor season. The senior set a PR in her premiere event, the shot put, with a throw of 11.54 meter, crushing her previous PR of 10.14 meters and earning third place in the event. However, that throw wasn’t just a PR for Byers-Carter. It also cracked St. Kate’s all-time top-10 list as the No. 8 throw in program history.
Byers-Carter was also impressive in her in weight throw debut with a throw of 11.31 meters. She finished seventh in that event behind two teammates and other student-athletes from Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) teams.
After opening weekend, Byers-Carter’s throw in the shot put in No. 3 on the MIAC’s top-10 list. Her distance in weight throw also cracked the top-10 and falls at No. 9 in the conference.
St. Kate’s track and field team will return to action this Friday, when it travels to Macalester College to participate in the Kilt Classic. The start time of the meet is yet to be determined.