Several Wildcats improved their times in back-to-back meets.
A couple weekends ago, Northwestern track competed at two meets to close out the month of March: the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Redbird Challenge in Normal, Illinois.
The Raleigh Relays, which took place on March 29, saw a trio of ‘Cats post personal bests in the 5000m run. Ava Earl broke Rachel McCardell’s school record with a time of 15:46:05, placing eighth overall. Additionally, she recorded her own personal best by 33 seconds.
Katherine Hessler and Maddy Whitman also posted personal bests in the event with times of 16:45:44 and 16:55:77, respectively. Hessler placed fifth in her section, while Whitman placed ninth.
Meanwhile, in the 10,000m run, Kalea Bartolotto came less than a second away from breaking the school record, running 33:52:71. Fiona Lenth ran 35:12:02, shattering her personal best by nearly a minute.
At the Redbird Challenge, which took place the next day, four Wildcats finished in the top ten of the 5000m run. Jackie Holman’s time of 17:03:89 was fast enough to earn her first place in the event. Emily Casaclang finished fifth running 17:35:04, while Maddy Powers was just behind in sixth place with a time of 18:06:53. Audrey Bannister also finished eighth with a time of 18:36:79.
Next up for the ‘Cats is the Gary Weineke Memorial in Champaign, which is slated for this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT.