Gibson, Simpson lead Women's Indoor Track and Field to third place finish at All-Ohio Championships at Otterbein

Gibson, Simpson lead Women's Indoor Track and Field to third place finish at All-Ohio Championships at Otterbein
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February 10, 2024

WESTERVILLE — Junior Chloe Gibson (Ostrander/Buckeye Valley) and freshman Paige Simpson (Merrillville, Ind.) each had a pair of top-5 finishes to lead the Ohio Northern women's indoor track and field team to a third place finish at the All-Ohio Championships on Saturday.

The Basics

  • Record: Ohio Northern (39-5)
  • Venue: Clements Recreation Center - Westerville, Ohio

Meet Results

  • The Polar Bears finished with 89.5 points to finish third of 12 teams.
  • Mount Union won the team title with 120 points, Case Western Reserve was second with 101.5 points and Denison was fourth with 62 points.

Top ONU Performers

  • Gibson was second in the long jump at 5.44 meters and was fourth 60-meter dash in :08.11.
  • Simpson was second in the 60 in :07.84 and was fifth in the 200 in :27.15.
  • Freshman Kalyn Kimball (Marion/Pleasant) was third in the 5,000 in 19:46.68.
  • Junior Abby Matthews (Lithopolis/Bloom Carroll) and senior Olesya Mertz (Johnstown) each had top-5 finishes in the mile run. Matthews was third in 5:14.55 and Mertz was fifth in 5:18.98.
  • Junior Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) was second in the 60 hurdles in :09.18.
  • Sophomore Lindsay Weininger (Upper Sandusky) was third in the high jump, clearing at 1.56m.
  • Freshman Lily Wolfe (Mansfield/Lexington) was fourth in the 400 in 1:02.25.
  • Freshman Ashley Baker (Derry, Pa./Derry Area) was fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 10.25m.
  • Wolfe, Matthews, freshman Leah Heitkamp (Burkettsville/Saint Henry) and Ashbrook wrapped up the meet with a third place finish in the 4x400 relay in 4:13.82.

Notables

  • The meet consisted of 19 events, 10 individual running events, six field events and three running relays.
  • Simpson's mark of :07.84 was a career-best for her, moving her to No. 2 on ONU's all-time career list in the event. It was also only .02 of a second off the school record :07.82 set in 2022 by Kayla Silva.
  • Ashbrook moves up to fourth all-time in ONU history in the 60 hurdles with her :09.18 effort.
  • Matthews moves up to 8th all-time in the mile at 5:14.55.
  • Six of Ohio Northern top performers did not compete in the meet, as they competed Friday night at the Grand Valley State (Mich.) Big Meet, making ONU's third place finish more impressive.

Up Next

  • The Polar Bears return to action Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Wittenberg Invitational.