Freshman Emily Richards, sophomore Diana Johnson-Ward set new school record to lead Women's Track and Field to a second place finish

By: Ashley Birchmeier

ADA — Freshman Emily Richards and sophomore Dianna Johnson-Ward set new school records to lead the Ohio Northern women's track and Ffield team to a second place finish out of 12 teams Saturday at the Polar Bear Invitational hosted at Kerscher Stadium.

This is the first outdoor meet that Ohio Northern has hosted since 2008.

The Polar Bears scored 140.50 points in the meet and improve to 45-8 overall on the season.

Findlay won the meet with 214.50 points, followed by ONU in second with 140.50 points and Ohio Wesleyan in third with 108.50 points.

Richards won the 800-meter run with a national qualifying time of 2:11.27, setting a new ONU school record and breaking the previous record of 2:11.57 set by Erin Hipp.

Johnson-Ward also set a new school record in the triple jump, breaking the previous record of 11.10 meters set by Johnson-Ward last weekend.

The sophomore claimed first place in the event with a leap of 11.29 meters.

Junior Sarah Ballmer won the pole vault clearing a height of 3.46 meters.

In the long jump, sophomore Rebecca Carman won with a jump of 5.40 meters and junior Kristine Wagner finished fifth with a jump of 5.21 meters.

Senior Gabrielle Metzner was second in the triple jump with a jump of 11.15 meters and was fourth in the 100 hurdles in :14.80.

Freshman Danielle Sutter was second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 13:13.21.

In the high jump, junior Julie Amos was second with a jump of 1.56 meters and freshman Bethany Schneider was fourth with a height of 1.51 meters.

Sophomore Paige Giessler was fourth in the 5,000-meter run in 21:35.14.

The 4x100 meter relay team of sophomore Meagan Ellinger, sophomore Michelle Mosler, junior Kristine Wagner, and junior Brittany Lee finished fourth in 4:10.18.

Sophomore Allison Gast claimed three top-five finishes in the meet as she took third in the 100-meter dash, fourth in the 200-meter dash, and fifth in the javelin throw.

Gast completed the 100-meter dash in 12.86 seconds, 200-meter dash in 26.61 seconds, and threw a season best 32.50 meters in the javelin.

Senior Catie Huber claimed fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:22.05.

"It was nice to be able to host such a big meet and showcase our facilities," said head track and field coach Jason Maus. "We had great performances all around and great weather to compete in."

The Polar Bears will return to the track Friday as they travel to Alliance for Day 1 of the OAC Championships with field events scheduled to start at noon and running events scheduled to start at 4:10 pm at the Mount Union Stadium. 

Team Scores: 1. Findlay 214.50, 2. Ohio Northern 140.50, 3. Ohio Wesleyan 108.50, 4. Tiffin 52, 5. Wittenberg 41, 6. Heidelberg 38, 7. Thomas More 37, 8. Capital 29, 9. Bluffton 21, 10. Defiance 20, 11. Ohio Christian 2, 12. Mount St. Joseph 1.50