Women's Track & Field captures six event titles at 2019 Polar Bear Final Qualifier
By Blake Moore
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's track and field program secured six individual event titles at the 2019 Polar Bear Final Qualifier, headlining the team's performances Saturday afternoon inside the ONU Sports Center.
The meet was not scored.
Northern won three event titles on the track and claimed three of the six event titles in the field events over the two-day event, which began Friday with the men's heptahlon and women's pentathlon competitions.
In the running disciplines, senior Elizabeth Steele (Tempe, Ariz./Corona Del Sol) and freshman Emily Norden (Carey) established new career-best efforts to claim the 5,000-meter run and 400-meter dash titles, respectively.
Steele shattered her career-best mark in the 5k with a 20:45.04 clocking, shaving over 25 seconds off her previous top effort.
Meanwhile, Norden led a 1-2 Polar Bear finish in the quarter-mile, crossing the tape in a career-best 1:00.73. Senior sprinter Taylor Fisher (Wapakoneta) trailed closely behind with a 1:01.28 clocking, also a career-best result.
Senior Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) picked up the remaining individual event title on the track, besting the 10-person field in the 800-meter run with a 2:16.43. She would edge out Albion's (Mich.) Cassie Vince for the top spot, securing a new career-best mark at indoor venues for the Kokomo, Indiana native.
Classmate Michaela Fox (Bellevue) also finished in the event's top-three finishers, ending third in 2:24.09.
Additionally, the Polar Bears recorded a 2-3 finish in the women's 3,000-meter run as sophomore Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) and senior Kristina Myers (Grove City/Central Crossing) took second and third in 10:49.26 and 11:27.20, respectively.
In the field, senior Tia Harris (Newton Falls), junior Allison Stevens (Naperville, Ill./Central), and sophomore Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch) registered event titles in the shot put, pole vault, and long jump competitions, respectively.
Just a week removed from winning an OAC Championship title and resetting the ONU indoor shot put record, Harris launched a 13.07-meter (42' 10.75") toss to win her second consecutive event title.
Stevens claimed her first individual event title this season after clearing the bar at 3.71 meters (12' 2"). The Naperville, Illinois product successfully vaulted over the bar on her third and final attempt at the winning height to jump four inches higher than the second-place finisher.
Meanwhile, DeWitt leaped 5.43 meters (17' 9.75") to capture the long jump title amid a four-person field.
Ohio Northern will now await the announcement of the NCAA Division III National Championships qualifying list. The top 20 individuals in each event will earn the right to compete at the national championship meet, which is slated for Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 in Boston, Massachusetts.