Women’s Track and Field Team Captures Individual and Team Accolades at National Championships
The St. Lawrence women’s indoor track and field team took home an individual and a relay All-American title Friday at the Division III National Championship in Naperville, Il. Megan Kellogg ‘18 claimed seventh in the 5000m run before she, Caroline Driscoll ‘19, Molly Lennon ‘17, and Cassidy Scott ‘19 also took seventh place in the distance medley relay, earning the quartet All-American honors.
The distance medley relay, or DMR, is a race consisting of a 1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m leg. The combination of shorter and longer distances requires a strong and deep team to compete. Driscoll led off the relay with a 3:44 split in the 1200m, with Lennon following with a 57 second 400m. Scott ran the third leg in 2:18 before Kellogg anchored in 4:53. The team broke the school record, which was set last week by the same group.
By running a 17:04.32 in the 5000m, Kellogg was the first St. Lawrence athlete to claim an All-American spot in the meet. The time was a personal best for the junior, who added her fourth and fifth career All-American honors over the weekend. Kellogg ran the 5000m just an hour before taking the 1600m leg of the DMR. “I was nervous,” she said about running the double. She was the only athlete who competed in both events at the meet. She passed three teams in her final leg of the race.
“The whole weekend hasn’t really settled in yet,” said Kellogg, who has been All American in cross-country as well as track and field. She went on to say the DMR was the highlight of her meet. “We came in underdogs,” she said of the relay, which was seeded 12th of 12 teams entered in the race. The team moved up five places by the end to take All-American, with all four runners posting very strong times. “I remember the last stretch,” Kellogg said, “seeing [my teammates] jumping up and down.”
The five St. Lawrence runners who earned honors at NCAAs were the only team sent to the championship. The team, “small but mighty” as described by Kellogg, qualified the DMR for nationals for the first time this season. With only one of the four runners graduating this spring, the future of the team looks strong.
The Saints’ two scoring events placed them 50th out of 92 teams represented at the meet. While the championship concludes their indoor competition, the women’s track and field team will begin their outdoor season April 8th at the Nazareth Rock City Invitational.