| Results | MIAC Recap | MIAC Championships Site |

The St. Catherine University track and field team knew heading into the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships Friday it had the potential for great things to happen. The outcome that occurred, though, was more than anticipated as Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) captured the MIAC title in the javelin to lead the Wildcats on day one of the conference meet Friday at Macalester College in St. Paul. 

After setting new school records multiple times throughout the season, Besch made the most of her opportunity Friday when she threw a mark of 41.17 meters (135-1) on her final throw of prelims to set a new school record. Her mark was the best of the day in the field of 20 competitors allowing the junior to capture first place in her MIAC Championships debut. Besch is the first Wildcat individual to win an individual event since Greta Sieve won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2010. It is also the first conference title for the program since the 4 x 400-meter relay victory in 2011. 

Megan Pohlmann (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) also qualified for the finals in the javelin. Her mark of 33.95 meters (111-4) was good enough for a seventh -place finish to score points for the Wildcats. 
 

On the track, Shakeela Wells-Johnson (St. Paul, Minn./Harding) and Brittany Moore (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) qualified for Saturday's 100-meter hurdle finals finishing third (15.51) and sixth (15.95), respectively, in the prelims. Wells-Johnson also ran the fastest prelim time for the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.60 to qualify for Saturday's finals. 

In the 400-meter dash, Megan Thoemke (White Bear Lake, Minn./Mahtomedi) ran the 11th-best prelim time with a new personal record (PR) time of 1:00.61. Her time was also good enough to take over the No. 8 all-time at St. Kate's. Emily Hohenshell (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) and Jenna Thompson (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) also had PRs in the event with times of 1:07.02 and 1:07.92, respectively. 

The 4 x 800-meter relay team of Shannon Strickland (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes), Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn./Greenbush-Middle River), Rachel Hall (mendota Heights, Minn.) and Marie Morrier (Hudson, N.H./Academy of Science and Design) finished seventh to score points for the Wildcats with a time of 9:46.95. That mark is now the third-fastest in St. Kate's history. 

The Wildcats' 4 x 100-meter relay team of Moore, Abigail Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes), Ashleigh Ackley (Gilby, N.D./Grand Forks Central) and Wells-Johnson had the ninth-fastest time of the day to qualify for finals. Their time of 50.43 is currently No. 7 all-time at St. Kate's. 

Morrier also had a PR time of 1:11.71 in the 400-meter hurdles to round out the Wildcat highlights for day one. The Wildcats are currently tied four eighth with Hamline with 14 points. 

The MIAC Championships will conclude Saturday with field events scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and track events at 3 p.m. All meet informaiton can be found on the championships site. 

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