Three OAC records fall on Day 1 of the OAC Track & Field Championship

Mar. 2, 2007

By Zach Stipe

ADA — Three conference records were broken during Day 1 of competition at the Ohio Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships on Friday night at the ONU Sports Center.

Baldwin-Wallace holds narrow lead over Ohio Northern and Mount Union after the first day of competition. The Yellow Jackets, seeking its third consecutive OAC Championship, sits atop the standings with 24 points. B-W is followed by Ohio Northern (24 points), Mount Union (22), Otterbein (19), Capital (10), Wilmington (10), John Carroll (5), Marietta (3), and Heidelberg (1).

Wilmington senior Ashley Johnson smashed the OAC record in the pole vault with a vault of 3.77 meters (12-04.50). The mark automatically qualifies Johnson for the NCAA III Championships on March 9-10 at Rose Holman (Ind.). The old record of 11-06.50 was set by Alysha Gossel of Otterbein in 2006.

Also earning All-OAC in the pole vault were Loise Thoma of Mount Union and Jennifer Miller of Baldwin-Wallace. Thoma, a junior, vaulted 3.31 meters (10-10.25) to finish second, while Miller, a freshman, placed third with a height of 3.21 meters (10-06.25).

Baldwin-Wallace broke the OAC record in the distance medley relay. The team of seniors Megan Via and Rihana Knotts, sophomore Ashley Scullion and D’Arcy Hlavin ran a provisional-qualifying time of 12:13.76 to break the old mark of 12:22.93, set by John Carroll in 2003.

Otterbein was second in the relay with a time of 12:33.81 and Ohio Northern was third in 12:43.30.

Another record-breaking performance was turned in by Wilmington freshman Callen Martin as she smashed the OAC record in the 55-meter dash during her preliminary heat. Martin’s time of 7.12 seconds betters the old record of 7.28 set in 2002 and automatically qualifies her for the NCAA III Championships.

Martin also sits first in the 300-meter dash after running a 41.63 in the preliminaries.

Friday’s other event champion was Otterbein senior Mandy Fugate. She leapt 5.53 meters (18-01.75) to capture the OAC title in the long jump and provisionally qualify for the NCAA III Championships. Mount Union junior Amanda Kolanz placed second with a distance of 5.34 meters (17-06.25) and Ohio Northern senior Sara McGinnis finished third with a mark of 5.30 meters (17-04.75).

The OAC Championships wrap-up tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m. for field events and 1:45 p.m. for the running events.