ST. PAUL – The Bethel University women's track and field team continued their journey toward the conference championships with a strong performance on Friday night at the Kilt Classic. The meet was held at Macalester College and served as one of two pre-conference championship competitions with the other being held at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

"We had a tremendous meet across the board, we got what we needed at the right time," commented head coach Andrew Rock.

The day actually started for the women at the meet in Northfield as the Royals sent their distance medley relay team to St. Olaf to try to secure a spot in the national meet. The women broke the school record with a time of 12:08.19, which currently places them 12th in the nation with the top 15 teams qualifying for nationals.

Back at Macalester's Kilt Classic, the women enjoyed huge success in the individual events.  Team captain Paige Thielen, a member of the distance medley relay team, captured a big personal record in the 400-meter dash finishing with a time of 1:00.86.

Sophomore teammates Jillian Krier and Nicole Balzer also increased their marks as Krier won the 60-meter dash and Balzer took second place in the 600-meter run.

The Royal women also dominated the pole vault, as they took three of the top six spots with seniors KelliAnne O'Leary and Angela Substad winning the event with a height of 3.22 meters.  Senior and team captain Alyssa Solberg also won the women's weight throw, as she continues to lead the conference in that event.

After a big-time showing on Friday night, the Royals will now look to peak their performances at the conference championships that will be hosted by Concordia College next weekend.