Season Preview: Women's Track and Field excited for 2023-24 campaign

By Wes Mayberry

| 2023-24 Women's Track and Field Schedule | 2023-24 Women's Track and Field Roster |

ADA — After posting a combined record of 52-7 and placing third in the Ohio Athletic Conference during the indoor and outdoor seasons last year, the Ohio Northern women's track and field team is excited to see what the 2023-24 campaign has in store.

Under 15th-year head coach Jason Maus, the Polar Bears are seeking their 13th consecutive winning season indoors and 11th straight winning season outdoors.

This year's roster is headlined by the return of 27 letter winners led by seven All-OAC honorees from last season in juniors Izzy Burman (Benton Ridge/Liberty Benton), Chloe Gibson (Ostrander/Buckeye Valley), Kendra Krichbaum (Ashland) and Hannah Friend (Luckey/Eastwood) and sophomores Riley Heitkamp (Fort Loramie), Claire Schweller (Paulding) and Lindsay Weininger (Upper Sandusky).

Burman is coming off a standout season in which she won OAC titles and USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the indoor shot put and weight throw. She enters her junior season ranked second all-time at ONU in the indoor shot put and weight throw. Outdoors, she ranks fourth in the hammer throw, eighth in the shot put and 10th in the discus.

Weininger is also coming off a championship season, winning the OAC title in the outdoor high jump.

Krichbaum and Gibson return from ONU's outdoor 4x100 relay team that earned All-OAC honors last season. Gibson added a second All-OAC accolade in the outdoor triple jump while Krichbaum broke the school record in the outdoor 100 last season with a time of :12.22.

Heitkamp earned a pair of All-OAC honors a season ago, doing so in the indoor and outdoor high jump.

Schweller was a USTFCCCA All-Region selection in the indoor and outdoor pole vault and earned All-OAC recognition in the indoor pole vault as a freshman.

Friend earned 2023 All-OAC recognition in the outdoor discus, and she ranks second all-time at ONU in that event.

The remaining returning letter winners for this season include seniors Sydney Goodrich (Romeo, Mich.), J.J. Herron (Miamisburg), Olesya Mertz (Johnstown), Olivia Ogg (Hebron/Lakewood), Rosie Schroeder (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and Megan Vapenik (Strongsville), juniors Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge), Tarrah BeVier (Johnstown/Northridge), Jaclyn Boardman (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community), Ashley Hockstok (Westerville/Central), Toria Ingalls (Tiffin/Columbian), Abby Matthews (Lithopolis/Bloom Carroll), Sami Sellers (Van Wert/Lincolnview) and Larkin Warner (Findlay) and sophomores Ellie Ford (Upper Arlington), Stacey Legg (Monroeville), Kaitlin Prusnek (Findlay), Kennedy Rader (Mason), Samantha Roth (Brunswick) and Lauryn Wolters (Anna).

This year's roster contains 51 student-athletes, including seven seniors, 16 juniors, 14 sophomores and 14 freshmen.

The group of incoming freshmen is headlined by AnnaSophia Gower (Perrysburg), who is coming off the 2023 cross country season in which she earned All-Region and First Team All-OAC accolades en route to qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships. Her top 6K time of 21:11 ranks third all-time at ONU.

The Polar Bears open their indoor season this Thursday and Friday, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, at the Findlay Oiler Opener before hosting the Larry Cole Invitational on Jan. 19. Northern is also hosting the Joe Banks Invitational on Feb. 2.

The OAC Indoor Championships are scheduled for Feb. 23-24 at Muskingum, and the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships are set for March 8-9 in Virginia Beach, Va.

ONU opens its outdoor season on March 30 at the Tiffelberg Open. The lone home meet of the outdoor season is the Mike Becraft Invitational on April 19-20.

The OAC Outdoor Championships are scheduled for May 2-3 at Heidelberg, and the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships are set for May 23-25 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.