ST. PAUL, MINN. – It was a big weekend for the St. Catherine University athletic department, as multiple teams were in action, including the track and field team. The Wildcats finished ninth at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships thanks to multiple record-breaking performances, including two from senior sprinter Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn. / Harding). In the pool, senior diver Jenna Nagy (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) was busy qualifying for nationals at the NCAA Regional Diving Zones. Thanks to their outstanding weekend, Wells-Johnson and Nagy have been named Co-Wildcat Athletes of the Week.
Wells-Johnson opened the weekend with two outstanding performances on Friday, where she broke the school record for the 60 meter hurdles and was crowned champion in the 60 meter dash. The senior sprinter qualified for the finals in both events by winning her heat in decisive fashion. In the finals for the 60 meter hurdles, Wells-Johnson broke and reset her own school record in a race that required a photo finish to determine the winner. The senior's time of 9.02 was .01 behind first place finisher Gabby Knoll of Hamline, but was a PR and school record by .08.
The best was still yet to come for Wells-Johnson, though, with her performance in the 60 meter dash. After yet another picture finish in the fastest event of the meet, Wells-Johnson and the Wildcats were forced to wait 45 minutes to find out, once again, who the winner was. When the results finally came out, though, it was Wells-Johnson's name on top, as she won the event for the first time in her career with a season-best time of 7.85.
Nagy was equally spectacular over the weekend, as she qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship for the first time in her career by winning the 3-meter competition at the NCAA Regional Diving Zones on Saturday. Fueled by Friday's outstanding performance, in which she finished fourth with a score of 417.10, Nagy put together not only the best 3-meter program of her career, but in program history as well. Over the course of 11 dives, Nagy tallied a score of 474.60, breaking her own school record for 3-meter, 11 dive score. She also won the competition by nine points, making her the first diver from St. Kate's to earn a spot at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in roughly 25 years.
