Four event titles guide Women's Track & Field at Oberlin Invitational

By Blake Moore

OBERLIN — The Ohio Northern women's track and field program claimed four event titles Saturday at the 2019 Bob Kahn Invitational at Oberlin, topping the Polar Bear performances on the third weekend of the 2019 outdoor campaign.

The meet was not scored for final team standings.

Junior Melinda McIntosh (Farmersville/Valley View), sophomore Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch), freshman Kayla Silva (Westerville/South), and the 4x100-meter relay squad each won event titles to lead Ohio Northern over the weekend.

McIntosh led a 1-3-4 finish in the 100-meter hurdles competition, crossing the tape in a season-best :15.99. Meanwhile, senior Sydney McCluer (Columbus Grove) and freshman Kimberly Kramer (Green) also recorded top-five efforts, ending third and fourth in :16.32 and :16.36, respectively.

In the field, DeWitt captured the long jump individual event title with a 5.20-meter (17' 0.75") leap. She bested the 10-person field on her second jump in the competition, edging out her competitors by just 0.09 meters.

Following her first career Ohio Athletic Conference Track Athlete of the Week honor, Silva bolted to a career-best :25.87 clocking in the 200-meter dash to win the event. The freshman narrowly defeated Wooster's Akwia Tilton, who crossed the finish line in :25.88 and finished second overall.

Silva, freshman Emily Norden (Carey), DeWitt, and junior Taylor Lavey (New Baltimore, Mich./Findlay) rounded out the event victories with a first-place effort in the 4x100-meter relay. The quartet clocked a :48.64, nearly toppling the current school record of :48.58 set in the 2016 campaign.

Additionally, the Polar Bears recorded four runner-up finishes on Saturday at the Kahn Track facility.

In the 1,500-meter run, senior Michaela Fox (Bellevue) took runner-up honors with a 4:57.66 effort. Sophomore Kylie Vestal (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) crossed right behind her senior teammate, ending third in 4:58.76.

Senior Taylor Fisher (Wapakoneta) and junior Madeleine Routhier (West Unity/Hilltop) secured second-place marks in the 400-meter hurdles and the 800-meter run in 1:07.94 and 2:26.81, respectively.

Senior thrower Tia Harris (Newton Falls) rounded out the runner-up performances after taking second in the shot put competition. The Newton Falls native launched the shot 12.18 meters (39' 11.5") to trail only event champion Cassandra Laios from Case Western Reserve.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday, April 13 with a trip to the All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Wesleyan.