No. 9 Women's Outdoor Track & Field clinches OAC Championship in back-to-back seasons for first time in school history
By Caleb Scott
ADA — For the first time in school history, the Ohio Northern women's track and field team has won back-to-back Ohio Athletic Conference titles in the outdoor meet after claiming first place in the 2018 OAC Championships on Saturday afternoon at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears took the team title with 166 points, while Mount Union took second place with 154 points, narrowly edging Otterbein who finished third with 153.5 points.
The 4x400-meter relay team of senior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes), juniors Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) and Taylor Fisher (Wapakoneta) and sophomore Taylor Lavey (New Baltimore, Mich./Findlay) put an exclamation point on the team victory, wrapping the meet up with championship performance in the event, winning in 3:55.67.
Richards was also named the OAC Champion in both the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run, winning the 800-meter run in 2:14.11 before taking the 1,500-meter run title in a facility record time of 4:34.38.
Ewing added a second place finish in the 800-meter run to earn All-Conference honors in 2:17.83.
In the 100-meter dash, Lavey was the runner up, breaking her own school record in the event in :12.26, before taking home All-OAC honors in the 200-meter dash with a third place finish of :25.83.
Junior Ashlie Baumann (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) added a third place finish in the 5,000-meter run, earning All-OAC honors in 17:49.16.
Freshman Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch Catholic) posted her second All-Conference performance of the weekend in the triple jump, finishing second in the event with a leap of 36" 4.25".
Fisher also earned All-OAC honors in multiple events for ONU after posting a third place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:06.28.
Sophomore Melinda McIntosh (Farmersville/Valley View) garnered All-OAC honors in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing third in the event in :15.72.
In the throwing events, junior Tia Harris (Newton Falls) led ONU as she finished fifth in the hammer throw with a toss of 140' 6" and finished sixth in the shot put with a toss of 40' 6".
The women's 4x100-meter relay team of DeWitt, Fisher, Lavey and McIntosh added a top-4 finish, finishing fourth in :50.64.
Northern started its scoring on day two of the championships in the high jump as senior Mallory Weininger (Upper Sandusky) posted a fourth place finish with a leap of 4' 11.5", while senior Megan McClain (Lewisburg/Tri-County North) added a seventh place finish in the event with a leap of 4' 9.5"
"I really think we were lights out all weekend," said head coach Jason Maus. "These girls really had something special going and you could just feel the momentum building throughout the weekend. It is certainly special being able to win it all here at home in front of our parents, peers and classmates. I'm so proud of the way we competed this weekend."
Richards was named the OAC Outstanding Distance Runner of the Year, while the Polar Bear coaching staff earned Women's Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Both honors were the second consecutive years that Richards and the ONU staff earned the honors.
The Polar Bears will return to action next week as they travel to North Central (Ill.) to compete in the Keeler Invitational.
