The St. Kate's track and field team closed out the MIAC outdoor track and field championships with a string of impressive performances that propelled the team to the second highest point total in school history.
In the first event of the day, senior team captain Greta Sieve started the Wildcats off on the right foot. Sieve finished first and set an MIAC Championships meet record in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:46.23. In winning She became the first Wildcat event champion since Anne Sikorra won the heptathlon in 2002.
Building on Sieve's momentum, in the meets next event the SCU 4 x 100 meter relay team of
Jennifer Ampe,
Kim Engel,
Jamie Kelly and
Sam Levercom took .6 seconds off of the school record and earned MIAC honorable mention honors. The team finished sixth with a time of 49.72.
Kim Engel then continued her excellence in the 400 meter dash. She destroyed the St. Kate's school record with her 57.79 clocking. Engel's time was an astounding 1.3 seconds faster than her personal best heading into the meet, and broke Margo Boyle's record from 1999.
Kayla Engel etched her named in Wildcat folklore, as she performed the stuff of sporting legends. She came back from an evening in the hospital to earn honorable mention honors in the 800 and lead off the Wildcats record setting 4 x 400 meter relay.
The 4 x 400 that Kayla led off ran an NCAA Provisional qualifying time of 3:54.67. Demonstrating the strength of the MIAC, that time currently ranks 16th in the nation, but placed the Wildcats fourth in the meet. The Wildcats time broke the previous season best, and SCU school record, by over three seconds. For their efforts Kayla Engel, Kim Engel,
Amanda Manship and
Erin Coughlin MIAC Honorable mention honors.
On the field, senior
Samantha Larson continued her stellar season in the shot put. She improved her national rankings, raised her own SCU school record, and finished second overall with a mark of 13.11 meters (43' 0.25"). Larson's finish earned her the second MIAC All-Conference certificate of her career.
A pleased coach Henderson praised the Wildcats for their strong showing at the MIAC meet. He noted that "The women did so many good things this weekend. Five school records, an MIAC Champion and meet record, and the second highest point total in school history. We really couldn't ask for much more. Obviously, we knew it would be close and we wanted to place a bit higher, but the way the women competed was just fantastic! All of us coaches are very proud of all they did this weekend to represent themselves and St. Kate's."
Complete results are available here