A pair of seniors led the way for the Wildcats at the MIAC Track & Field Championships on Saturday.  Jamie Kelly was the runner-up in the shot put, while Samantha Levercom had a hand in three school record performances to help lead the Wildcats to a tenth place team finish.
 
Kelly turned in the best performance of her career in the shot put.  Seeded fourth entering the event, on her second throw Kelly tossed the shot 13.02m (42-8.75).  Her throw was a PR by over a foot and was just six centimeters off the winning effort.  Kelly ends her career at #2 all-time in school history and was awarded All-Conference honors for her efforts. 
 
Sam Levercom moved her name to the top of the record books in several events.  Fresh off setting a school record in the 200 on Friday night, Levercom sped to a school record in the 100m dash finals.  Her time of 12.49 was a PR by a tenth of a second and was good for 7^th overall.  She then teamed up with Holly Staples, Madelin Skaalrud, and Christina Ramsdell to set a school record in the 4x100 relay.  The quartet took over half a second off their season best, running 49.65.  Their time was not only a record, but moved them up from their eighth place seed to place fourth overall to pick up some big points for the team.  The team all earned All-Conference honorable mention honors. 
 
A pair of first-years picked up honorable mention honors in individual events.  Ailee Larson placed sixth in the 800m run.  She turned in a sub 2:20 effort in her third 800 of the meet, running 2:19.80.  Sarah Mong was fifth in the high jump, clearing 1.60m (5-3).  Mong also turned in a 15^th place showing in the triple jump, leaping 10.36m. 
 
Erin Coughlin picked up several points for the team with a seventh place finish in the 400m dash.  Coughlin broke 60 seconds for the first time this season, running 59.408, just .005 away from 6^th place. 
 
Also on the track, Kristina Poss and Ariel Johnson both completed a tough double, running the 10,000m on Friday night and returning to run the 5000m on Saturday.  While windy and warm conditions kept them from any PR's, both ran strong races to improved their seedings.  Poss ran 19:27.74 to place 18^th, while Johnson ran 19:46.11 for 24^th. 
 
Other Saturday field events included Coughlin's PR in the triple jump (10.47m), Stephanie Meschke's ninth place finish in the javelin (32.22m), Callie Teigen placing 14thi in javelin (30.35m), Holly Staples jumping 1.55m for 10^th in the high jump, and Makayla Skluzacek placing 16^th in the high jump by tying her best jump ever (1.50m). 
 
Heading into the final event of the day, the Wildcats trailed Augsburg by three points and Macalester by four.  The 4x400 relay team did all they could, coming away with a sixth place finish to earn three team points and pull the team into a tie for tenth.  The quartet of Coughlin, Larson, Kelsey Eder, and Kalyse Engebretson ran their fastest time of the season, holding off Carleton for a sixth place finish in 4:00.62.  They each earned honorable mention honors for their finish. 
 
The Wildcats ended the day with 27 points total, tied with Augsburg for tenth place and just three points away from ninth.  While Kelly and Levercom have both ended their Wildcat careers, the team returns almost all their other athletes for the 2012-13 season, with plenty of young Wildcats having gained valuable championship experience this weekend. 

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