MANKATO, Minn. – The Carleton College women's track & field team sent a small contingent to the Ted Nelson Classic hosted by Minnesota State-Mankato. The Knights finished eighth at the eight-team meet which included four NCAA Division II programs (two nationally ranked), three nationally-ranked D-III squads, and a nationally-ranked junior college. Carleton student-athletes registered eight top-10 results.
Helen Cross (So./Nederland, Colo./Nederland) was the top Division III racer in the mile run, clocking a season-best time of 5:16.72 to take fourth place.
Piper Dean (Fy./Arlington, Va./Yorktown) made her season debut and placed sixth with a time of 5:28.83.
Jocelyn Ferguson (So./Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South) times of 1:00.33 was good for a season best as well as ninth place in the 400-meter dash.
Amy Kropp (Sr./Logan, Utah/Logan) earned eighth place in the 600-meter run, posting a finishing time of 1:42.43.
Eve Farrell (Sr./Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) notched an indoor personal best with her time of 2:33.94 in the 800-meter run. She was the seventh-fastest racer across the line.
Katherine Geist (So./Crookston, Minn./Crookston) competed in the 1000-meter run for the first time in her collegiate career and placed fourth at 2:59.94 to lead a handful of Carleton runners in the event.
Lara Erickson (Fy./Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) nabbed 10th place with her personal-best time of 3:08.93.
"One of the things we focused on most in this meet was working on some speed development and having our 3K runners milers go down to the 1K," said Carleton head coach
Donna Ricks. "I thought they did an impressive job all the way around tonight."
The final event of the day saw Erickson, Kropp,
Alice Cutter (So./New York, N.Y./Poly Prep Day School), and
Kate Ulrich (Fy./Waconia, Minn./Waconia) combine to take sixth place in the 4x400-meter relay with their time of 4:24.51.
Up Next for the Knights
Clara Mayfield (Jr./Manhattan, Kan./Manhattan) is slated to race the 5000-meter run at the Iowa State Classic on Friday, Feb. 11. The rest of the team will host the Meet of the Hearts on Saturday, Feb. 12.
