ST. PAUL, MINN. – It's a big weekend for St. Catherine University athletic teams as all four winter sports teams will be in action for the first time in 2017. Track and field, hockey, basketball, and swimming and diving will all be in action over the weekend, giving fans plenty of opportunities to see the Wildcats in action.

First, track and field will travel to the University of St. Thomas to participate in the St. Thomas Opener to open the season. The meet will begin at St. Thomas at 3:30 p.m. with field events, and the running events will begin at roughly 4 p.m.

Swimming and Diving will be the first team to host a home event this weekend. The Wildcats will host the Augsburg College Auggies for a dual meet starting at 5 p.m. in the Butler Center Pool.

Hockey is the other team in action for St. Kate's on Friday night. However, the Wildcats will open their weekend on the road as they take on Gustavus Adolphus College in the first of a two-game series. Live stats and video will be available for Friday evening's game, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in St. Peter, Minnesota.
Saturday promises to be just as crazy and busy as Friday with a special winter "doubleheader". St. Kate's hockey team will return to St. Paul, Minnesota and host the Gusties in game two of the series at 2 p.m. in Drake Arena. Then, one hour later, the Wildcat basketball team will return to the court as they host Bethel University at 3 p.m.

Live stats and video will both be available for the basketball game, and score updates for both the hockey and basketball games can be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).

With so much going, here are the five things to know before all the action starts:

3 – By Saturday afternoon, St. Kate's hockey will have played three games in five days, the team's most difficult stretch of the season. The Wildcats opened their busy week on Tuesday, with a huge 5-4 win over Northland College in a nonconference game, and will conclude the week with the series against Gustavus. Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) scored two of the teams five goals in the victory, while Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn. / Thief River Falls), Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) and Tori Gruett (Woodbury, Minn. / MN Revolution) each added one.

25 – St. Kate's basketball's 25 point victory over Hamline on Wednesday is the team's largest margin of victory this season. First year guard Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) and junior guard Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) each scored 17 points in the victory, while Cambrice pulled in a team-leading nine rebounds. Thanks to the win, the Wildcats are now 10-4 overall and hold a 4-3 record in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play, the team's best record through this point in the season in head coach Sean Pinkerton's tenure.

4 – In December, diver Jenna Nagy (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) became the first Wildcat in swimming and diving program history to qualify for NCAA Regional Diving Zones all four years of her collegiate career. Nagy posted NCAA qualifying scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards twice this season, qualifying her for the regional meet for the fourth consecutive career.

5 – Last season, the track and field team had student-athletes post five personal records (PR) in the opening meet of the 2016 season. Four of those five athletes will return to the team this spring, including Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn. / Greenbush-Middle River), Megan Thoemke (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Mahtomedi), Michelle Perri (Plymouth, Minn. / Osseo) and Kaylea Hoenigschmidt (Ramsey, Minn. / Anoka). Sprinter Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn. / Harding) also returns to the team after a successful 2016 season.


5 – The St. Kate's dance is also competing this weekend. The Wildcats are competing at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) National Championship which takes place in Orlando, Florida.