Schatzle wins pole vault as Women’s Outdoor Track and Field sits in third place after Day 1 of OAC Championships
By Wes Mayberry
BEREA — Junior Anna Schatzle (Brookville, Ind./Franklin County) won the Ohio Athletic Conference title in the pole vault to lead the Ohio Northern women's outdoor track and field team on the first day of the 2022 OAC Championships meet on Thursday at Baldwin Wallace's Finnie Stadium.
Schatzle cleared a height of 3.62 meters to win the conference title, besting her All-OAC second-place finish from a season ago. She is coming off an indoor season in which she qualified for the NCAA Championships in the pole vault.
The Polar Bears (9-2 overall) are in third place out of 10 teams with 53 points through seven events after the first day of competition. John Carroll leads with 88 points, and Mount Union is second with 70 points.
Northern had two other All-OAC performances on the day courtesy of sophomore Olivia Ogg (Hebron/Lakewood) and senior Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls).
Ogg finished right behind Schatzle in second place in the pole vault, clearing a personal-best height of 3.47 meters, which ranks ninth all-time at ONU. She was All-OAC in the pole vault with a third-place finish last season and won the event at the 2022 indoor OACs.
Pitcovich added a second-place finish in the 10,000 meters, running a personal-best time of 36:08.18, surpassing her previous best mark by roughly 18 seconds and moving into second place on ONU's all-time list. This marks the second straight All-OAC honor for Pitcovich in the event, as she also placed second in 2021.
The top three finishers in each event earn All-OAC status, and the top eight score team points.
The Polar Bears had eight other placers on Thursday.
The team of juniors Lexi Neff (Northfield/Walsh Jesuit) and Gabrielle Kowalczyk (Marion/Pleasant) and sophomores J.J. Herron (Miamisburg) and Sydney Goodrich (Romeo, Mich.) finished fourth in the 4x800 relay, posting a time of 9:41.51.
Senior Taylor Ellerbrock (Columbus Grove) placed fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 11:38.53, which ranks ninth all-time at ONU.
Freshmen Hannah Friend (Luckey/Eastwood) and Sami Sellers (Van Wert/Lincolnview) finished 5-6 in the discus throw. Friend posted a personal-best distance of 37.76 meters, which ranks sixth all-time at ONU, and Sellers was right behind at 37.46 meters.
Freshman Chloe Gibson (Ostrander/Buckeye Valley) placed sixth in the long jump with a mark of 5.28 meters, which ranks 10th all-time at ONU and tied her season-best.
Freshman Tarrah BeVier (Johnstown/Northridge) posted a season-best mark of 29.00 meters to place sixth in the javelin throw.
Senior Rue Whitmore (Mason) finished sixth in the 10,000 meters, running a time of 38:39.49.
Freshman Jaclyn Boardman (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) placed seventh in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.02 meters.
The second and final day of the championship meet gets underway on Friday with field events beginning at 11 a.m. and running events starting at 3 p.m.
