NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Another week, another school-record performance for the Carleton College women's track & field team. This time it was Gabrielle Evans (Sr./Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka), who broke the team record when she cleared 3.38 meters in the pole vault.
 
"This meet was an opportunity for our athletes to sharpen up in preparation for the MIAC Championships next week," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "It was a fun meet where athletes competed in shorter race distances to focus on turnover, and it was an opportunity for field event athletes to focus on technique, which paid off for Gabrielle Evans!" 
 
Evans tied for the top height in the event, but was forced to settle for second place due to a missed attempt earlier in the competition.
 
Carleton won two events. Jocelyn Ferguson (So./Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South) was first to the finish line in the 400-meter dash with a career-best time of 1:00.29. She was also sixth out of 30 entrants in the 200-meter dash with a career-best time of 27.39.
 
Amy Kropp (Sr./Logan, Utah/Logan) prevailed in the 600-meter dash with her season-best time of 1:42.36.  Alice Cutter (So./New York, N.Y./Poly Prep Day School) and Thea Traw (Fy./Portland, Ore./Catlin Gabel) finished third and fourth in the event. Cutter took nearly 3.5 seconds off her previous season best and crossed the line at 1:45.25. Traw ran the distance for the first time this season and posted a time of 1:46.11.
 
Mary Blanchard (So./Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell) took second place in the 1000-meter run. Her time of 3:05.98 was a 4.8-second improvement over her previous season best. Lara Erickson (Fy./Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) and Libby Rowland (Fy./Tulsa, Okla./Holland Hall) also registered season-best times in the event as they finished third and fifth, respectively, at 3:06.19 and 3:09.81.
 
"Mary did not run track and field in high school,"Ricks said. "I feel like every meet we are still learning where her talents lie."
 
Other top-5 results:
• Kate Ulrich (Fy./Waconia, Minn./Waconia) was the runner up in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:27.82. Eve Farrell (Sr./Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) clocked a time of 2:36.19 to finished fourth in the event.
• Sydney Marsh (Sr./Austin, Minn./Austin) soared a personal-best 5.21 meters for the indoor long jump, good for second place. She added a fourth-place result in the pole vault with a height of 3.08 meters.
• Piper Dean (Fy./Arlington, Va./Yorktown) earned third place in the 3000-meter run with her time of 10:52.13. Allegra Pihlaja (Sr./Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) and Ashley Cohen (So./Sammamish, Wash./Skyline) were third and fourth, respectively, in the same race with times of 11:24.78 and 11:36.08. For Cohen, this was a nearly 17-second improvement from her previous season-best mark.
• Grace Blanchette (Jr./Honolulu , Hawaii/Punahou) improved 0.24 seconds between the prelims and the finals to earn third place in the 60-meter hurdles. She posted a career-best time of 9.73 seconds. Nayeli Williams (Fy./Minneapolis, Minn./Brooklyn Center) added a fifth-place result at 9.87.
• Neenah Bosman (So./Hugo, Minn./White Bear Lake) earned third place in the weight throw, measuring 12.03 meters.
• Riley Roberts (So./Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington) took fourth place in the 60-meter dash with a career-best time of 8.39.
• Ineke Cordova (Sr./Denver, Colo./Denver Christian) placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:04.23.
• Sophie McManus (Fy./McCall, Idaho/McCall-Donnelly) added a fourth-place result in the mile run, crossing the line at 5:26.85, a nearly 3.8-second improvement over her seed time.
• Williams finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 27.30.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will host the MIAC Championships on Feb. 24-26. The competition begins with the pentathlon on Thursday, with the majority of the conference meet coming on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Unfortunately, due to the large number of student-athletes competing at this meet and space constraints within the Recreation Center, spectators will not be permitted at this year's conference meet. Carleton will provide live video streaming and live results.