Sophomore Emily Richards leads Women's Track & Field to a 3rd place finish at the OAC Indoor Championships

By Ashley Birchmeier

MARIETTA — Sophmore Emily Richards was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Sprinter of the Year to lead the Ohio Northern women's track and field team on the final day of the 2016 Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Championships hosted by Marietta at the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center.

The Polar Bears (50-9 overall) finished 3rd of 10 teams with 147.5 points.

Mount Union won the team title with 176.5 points, followed by Otterbein in second place with 148 points.

Richards led the way for the Polar Bears, finishing first in the 400-meter run, as well as the 800-meter run, garnering OAC Championship honors. She becomes the only female athlete in OAC history to win both events at the OAC Indoor Championships.

The sophomore won the 400-meter run with a time of :57.38 setting a new ONU school record in the event. She also won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.36. 

In the 4x400 meter relay, Richards teamed up with junior Meagan Ellinger, junior Michelle Mosler, and freshman Taylor Fisher to win the event with a time of 4:03.18.

In the triple jump, junior Kelsey Commager led the way, winning the event and earning OAC Championship honors with a jump of 11.48 meters.

Mosler earned All-OAC honors in the meet as she finished second in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:20.09.

Junior Allison Gast also had an impressive day, earning All-OAC accolades in the 55-meter hurdles and the 55-meter dash. The junior finished third in the hurdles with a time of :08.55 and claimed third in the 55-meter dash in :07.36.

In the 4x200-meter relay Gast teamed up with Ellinger, Mosler, and Kristine Wagner to claim a third place finish with a new school record time of 1:46.61. The team earned All-OAC honors in the event.

Junior Dianna Johnson-Ward took second in the triple jump earning All-OAC honors with a jump of 10.98 meters, followed by freshman Stephanie Walton in fourth with a jump of 10.88 meters and junior Rebecca Carman in sixth with a leap of 10.80 meters.

Senior Rebekah McCutchen earned All-OAC honors in the 1-mile, finishing third with a time of 5:11.38.

Carman also earned a fourth place finish in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of :08.73.

In the 400-meter run, Ellinger finished fourth with a new personal best of :59.96.

Senior Julie Amos claimed a fifth place finish in the high jump clearing a height of 1.56 meters.

Freshman Tia Harris led the Polar Bears in the shot put, finishing fifth with a throw of 12.19 meters.

Gast also claimed a top-ten finish in the 200-meter dash, finishing sixth with a new school record of :26.53.

"We performed great on both sides," said head coach Jason Maus. "We were lights out all weekend, we were competitive and enthusiastic across the board, it was great to see."

The Polar Bears return to action Friday, Mrach 4 as they host the Polar Bear Last Chance meet.