Senior Tia Harris resets school record, claims shot put event title to guide Women's Track & Field to fifth-place finish at 2019 OAC Championships
By Scott Beaton
ADA — Senior Tia Harris (Newton Falls) reset her own indoor shot put school record and won the individual event title, leading the Ohio Northern women's track and field team to a fifth-place finish on Saturday at the 2019 Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships held inside the ONU Sports Center Fieldhouse.
ONU was fifth with 86 team points. Otterbein won the meet with 164.5 points; Mount Union finished second with 149.5 points; and John Carroll rounded out the top-three with 143 points.
Harris won the shot put with a school record 13.51-meter throw, besting her previous mark of 12.98 meters set at the Tiffin Dragon Open this season. The senior led after all six rounds during the event, never conceding the lead throughout the competition.
In the 800-meter run, senior Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) was second in 2:17.60 for All-OAC accolades. She is now an 11-time All-OAC honoree.
Junior Taylor Lavey (New Baltimore, Mich./Findlay) earned All-OAC honors for the ninth time in her career, placing third in the 60 dash in 7.93 seconds. Freshman Kayla Silva (Westerville/South) was seventh in 8.05 seconds.
Lavey was also sixth in the 200 in :26.17.
The quartet of senior Sydney McCluer (Columbus Grove), Lavey, senior Taylor Fisher (Wapakoneta), and Ewing crossed fourth in the 4x400 relay in 4:10.49.
Senior Mallory Weininger (Upper Sandusky) placed fourth in the high jump with a height of 1.59 meters.
In the 4x200 relay, freshmen Courtney Smith (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) and Emily Norden (Carey), Silva, and McCluer finished fifth in 1:47.02.
Sophomore Kylie Vestal (Youngstown/Austintown Fitch) took seventh in the 1000 in a career-best 3:08.85.
The Polar Bears will return to action Friday and Saturday with the Polar Bear Last Chance Invite, held inside the ONU Sports Center Fieldhouse.
Final Team Standings
1. Otterbein 164.5, 2. Mount Union 149.5, 3. John Carroll 143, 4. Baldwin Wallace 113, 5. Ohio Northern 86, 6. Capital 26, 7. Marietta 25, 8. Heidelberg 17, 9. Muskingum 10, 10. Wilmington 6
