Junior Tia Harris, 4x400-meter relay team breaks school records to lead Women's Indoor Track & Field at Polar Bear Final Qualifier

By Caleb Scott

ADA — Junior Tia Harris (Newton Falls) broke a 10-year-old school record in the shot put and the 4x400-meter relay team shattered the school record to lead the Ohio Northern women's indoor track and field team at the Polar Bear Final Qualifier at the Kinghorn Fieldhouse.

No team scores were kept in the meet.

After narrowly missing the school record on multiple occasions this season, Harris' final toss of 41' 9.25" in the shot put at the Final Qualifier broke the school record.

Harris finished fourth in the event.

The 4x400-meter relay team of juniors Taylor Fisher (Wapakoneta), Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern), sophomore Taylor Lavey (New Baltimore, Mich./Findlay) and senior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes) capped the meet off in style, breaking the school record by just under two seconds and finishing first in the event in 3:56.22.

The 4x400-meter relay team will wait to see if they made the field for the 2018 National Championships in Birmingham, Alabama.

In the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch Catholic) and sophomore Melinda McIntosh (Farmersville/Valley View) finished 3-4, respectively as DeWitt was third in :9.71 and McIntosh was fourth in :9.79.

DeWitt won the long jump, finishing first of seven competitors with a leap of 18' 1.5".

Junior Elizabeth Steele (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) won the 5,000-meter run in thrilling fashion, edging Earlham's Victoria Trezona in the final 10 meters, finishing first in 21:11.85.

Northern saw two athletes finish in the top-4 of the 800-meter run as Ewing was second in 2:18.43 and junior Michaela Fox (Bellevue) was fourth in 2:28.81.

Senior Kelly Wollenslegel (Clyde) posted a third place finish in the pole vault, clearing 11' 8.5" for ONU.

In the 3,000-meter run, Northern finished 2-3-4 as freshman Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) finished second in 11:00.10, junior Kristina Myers (Orient/Central Crossing) was third in 11:21.58 and sophomore Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) was fourth in 11:29.13.

Northern will return to action next weekend as it travels to Birmingham, Ala. where Richards, junior Maddy Reed (Piketon), and sophomore Maggie Krause (...) have qualified to compete in the 2018 Indoor National Championships. The Polar Bear 4x400-meter relay will wait to see if they have made the field for the championships.