The St. Kate's track and field team finished the 2009 season in fine fashion on day two of the MIAC championships. The Wildcats set three school records and picked up another NCAA provisional qualifying performance to close out their season.
Day two began much the same way day one ended, with junior team captain Greta Sieve finishing third with an NCAA provisional qualifying time. This time Sieve's performance came in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Her time of 11:08.26 was a 24 second improvement over her previous existing school record set earlier this season.
The 4 x 100 meter relay team of Jennifer Ampe, Samantha Levercom, Sydney Malanaphy, and Katie Lawler were up immediately after Sieve, and, just as they did on Friday night in qualifying for the finals, they out ran their seed. The Wildcats finished sixth overall with a time of 51.24.
Levercom later returned to the track for the 100 meter dash finals. Though she was the only first-year athlete to qualify for the finals in the dash, she ran it like a seasoned veteran and placed fifth overall with a time of 12.92.
Kim and Kayla Engel also competed in individual event finals. The duo continued their outstanding sophomore campaigns with a pair of personal bests. Kim's came after she ran a 59.46 and finished sixth in the 400 meter dash.
A short while later Kayla turned in the best 800 meter perfornamce of her career when she stopped the clock at 2:16.93. That time was not only good enough for fourth place, but established a new St. Kate's school record. Giving her both the indoor and outdoor records in the 800 meter run.
On the field side of the meet junior Celestine Ventura was also racking up points for the team. She finished seventh in the hammer throw with a toss of 43.07 meters (141'3") and then placed sixth in the discus throw with a mark of 37.81 m (124').
Along with her duties on the 4 x 100 meter relay team, Ampe was busy on the pole vault runway. In taht event Ampe set a new personal best of 3.22 meters (10'6 3/4") and finished sixth overall.
Finally, the Wildcats closed out the meet with the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Kayla Engel, Kim Engel, Amanda Manship, and Sarah Meissner. With senior team captain Meissner carrying the baton for the last time in her illustrious career at St. Kate's, the team knocked another four seconds off of their own school record. They stopped the clock at 3:57.95 to place third overall and become the first team in school history to run under 4:00 in the event.
Overall, the Wildcats finished eigth with 48 points. It was the second highest point total in team history and was the team's highest finish in the MIAC Outdoor Championships since the 2001 season.
Complete Meet Results
