DES MOINES, Iowa – Five distance runners from the Carleton College women's track & field program split up to race at two meets in two states on Thursday. Sophie McManus, Libby Rowland, and Aliya Larsen headed to Iowa for the Drake Relays, while Maggie Votruba and Celia Lehmann Duke raced closer to home at the Janis Rider/Doug Bolstorff Invitational 5K.
 
At the Drake Relays, McManus finished 13th in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:53.37 which almost exactly matched her performance from last spring at the same meet when she clocked a time of 10:53.57. Rowland made her Drake Relays debut and was 25th at 11:46.28. The 26-runner field included 15 racers from NCAA Division I programs and another three from D-II squads.
 
Larsen competed in the 10,000-meter run while making her debut at the Drake Relays. She clocked a time of 36:20.94 to finish 11th out of 25 entrants. This was Larsen's first attempt at this distance, and she now sits eighth on Carleton's all-time performance list. Of the 25 racers to break from the line under the lights at Drake Stadium, 11 are current NCAA D-I runners, with four others coming from Division II programs.
 
Meanwhile, more than 240 miles to the north, Votruba notched a season-best time of 19:33.43 while finishing 11th of 25 competitors in the 5000-meter run at the Rider/Bolstorff Invite. Lehmann Duke covered the distance in 22:37.9.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton returns to St. Paul for Day 2 of the Rider/Bolstorff Invitational on Saturday, April 26. Field events that day will begin at 10:00 a.m. with racing on the track starting an hour later.