NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The Carleton College women's track and field team took fourth place out of eight teams at the Meet of the Hearts, the team's first home competition of the season. The Knights won four events.
 
"The Meet of the Hearts is a special meet for us," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "We are so grateful to the Kelly Family for their support of both the men's and women's track & field teams. The energy and support by everyone was amazing, and our athletes responded with numerous personal bests."
 
The competition began with a victory in the 4x200-meter relay. Alice Islam, Hadley Twichell, Bianca Lott, and Charlotte Kusch dropped nearly 2.5 seconds of their season best and finished at 1:48.00 to rank No. 2 in the MIAC this year.
 
Carleton controlled the podium in the 1,000-meter run, with Lara Erickson (3:01.52) coming in first, Celia Silverstein (3:01.96) right behind her, and Madeleine Reckmeyer (3:13.29) earning third. All of those marks were personal bests. Erickson and Silverstein now rank No. 2 and No. 3 in the MIAC this season.
 
"Lara and Celia did a tremendous job of working together," said Ricks, "and as a result, both had tremendous personal bests. Maddy dropped her time considerably."
 
In the 3000-meter run, it was more of the same. Hannah Preisser clocked a 9:57.56 to win the event, and Aliya Larsen smashed her previous personal best by more than 16.6 seconds to finish second at 9:59.84. Sophie McManus (10:08.87), Nora Daley (10:24.96, personal best), and Libby Rowland (10:28.48) swept the rest of the top-5.
 
Preisser, Larsen, and McManus currently rank 1-2-3 in the MIAC, while they are No. 22, No. 26, and No. 50, respectively, on the NCAA Division III performance list for this season.
 
The other victory for the Knights came in the 400-meter dash, as Kusch notched the winning time of 1:00.29.
 
Other top-five results for Carleton:
• Bianca Lott finished fourth in the 55-meter dash (7.68, personal best) and fifth in the 200-meter dash (27.87).
• The Knights' entry in the 4x400-meter relay was the runner up as Kusch, Twichell, Erickson, and Silverstein posted a time of 4:08.71.
• Islam tied for second place in the high jump after clearing 1.43 meters.
• Claire Misoshi took third place in the triple jump, measuring a personal-best 9.79 meters.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton heads to the at Maverick Premier #2 meet hosted by Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday, Feb. 15.