ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's track and field team is tied for third place on a tightly-contested leaderboard following the first day of the 2021 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships held on Friday afternoon at Klas Field at Hamline University.

St. Olaf picked up 33 points on the opening day of the meet and is tied for third with Bethel. Saint Mary's leads the way with 35 points followed by St. Thomas in second with 34. Carleton (31) and Bethel (28) are right in the thick of the race too through seven events.

The top finish of the day for the Oles came in the 4x800-meter relay as Ellen Mickelson, Ali Seaton, Kristina Rohrer, and Jena Hauch placed second with a time of 9:33.64. Hamline won the event in 9:23.77.

Paige Woldt and Aleah Keske recorded fourth-place finishes to add to St. Olaf's points tally. Woldt was fourth in the long jump (5.12m, 16' 9 ¾"), while Keske was fourth in the shot put (12.89m, 42' 3 ½").

Teresa Pettitt-Kenney improved her height on St. Olaf's all-time list in the pole vault, clearing 3.23 meters (10' 7") to finish fifth in the event. That height is sixth-best in program history.

In the 10,000-meter run, Ellen Kemp and Lauren Markowski finished fifth and sixth with times of 39:27.12 and 39:35.86, respectively.

A number of Oles also qualified for Saturday's finals during the prelims of several track events, including Mickelson who posted the top time in the prelims of the 1,500-meter run (4:48.01). Jena Hauch added the third-fastest time in the 800-meter run (2:19.82) to book her spot in the finals.

Rebekah Salfer qualified for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles (16.17) and 400-meter hurdles (1:06.94) and was joined in the latter event by Riki Poore (1:08.50).

The 2021 MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships come to a close on Saturday, May 15 with the first evening getting under way at 12 p.m.