BEREA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University women's indoor track and field team won the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship Meet, two seniors combined to win three individual titles and three student-athletes combined for six all-american awards at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship Meet inside the Bear Recreation and Athletic Center at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. That was the highlight of a very successful winter athletics season.
In addition to the women's national track title, the men's track team finished tied for 13th at the national meet, had a national runner-up finish and two all-american awards, the wrestling team finished 31st in Div. III with one grappler earning his third straight all-american award, the men's and women's swimming and diving programs combined to produce five Ohio Athletic Conference champions and one NCAA Div. III national qualifier and the women's and men's basketball programs extended seasonal winning streaks to 24 and four season, respectively, with the women advancing to the OAC championship game for the second straight year.
The BW women's track team scored 42.2 points to win its first-ever national title in women's track and just the school's second-ever national title and its first in 38 years. The football team, led by College Football Hall of Fame Coach Dr. Lee Tressel, won the school's other title in 1978.
The Yellow Jacket women were led by senior three-time indoor All-American thrower Kim Gallavan (Auburn Township/Kenston) as she won both the shot put and weight throw nationalt titles. Senior five-time indoor All-American multi-event athlete Melanie Winters (Stow/ Stow-Munroe Falls) won the national title in the long jump and placed third in the 60-meter hurdles and was fouth in the high jump. Junior jumper Erin Kasper (Amherst/Marion Steele) earned her first All-American indoor accolade as she finished sixth in the high jump.
Gallavan won the shot put with a school-record throw of 48 feet and 3.25 inches and won the weight throw with a school-record throw of 62'9". Winters won in the long jump with a school-record leap of 19'6.25", was third in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.67 seconds and placed fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5'6.5" . Kasper was sixth in the high jump with a mark of 5'5".
The men's indoor track and field team placed 13th at the Division III Championships. Senior Tyler Burdorff (Painesville/ Riverside) was the national runner-up in the weight throw and earned his first All-American indoor accolade. Burdorff took second with a mark of 62'7.25". Freshman sprinter Jordan Leverette (Cleveland/John Adams) placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in a school-record time of 21.96 seconds to earn his first All-American indoor accolade.
The BW wrestling team had its best season in school history. The team won its first OAC wrestling title since 1973, set a school for victories in a season with 18 (18-8 overall), went undefeated during the OAC schedule with a record of 5-0 and finished with an all-time-best second place finish at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Tournament. The team was led by Senior Jesse Gunter (Akron/ Coventry) ended an outstanding career as a three-time Division III All-American and second all-time in school history with 122 victories with an incredible 122-15 career record. In addition to Gunter, senior 174-pound Division III All-American Garrett Chase (Erie, Pa./ Cathedral Prep) and sophomore two-time first-team All-OAC 197-pounder Tyler Maclellan both competed at the national tourney. Chase ended his career as BW's all-time leader in wins with 129. Gunter also joined Chase, Maclellan, seniors Ben LeBrun (Styrongsville) and Joe Schmidt (Hinckley/Brunswick), sophomore Andrew Sierawski (Delaware/Hayes) and freshman Richie Burke (Ithaca, N.Y.) as National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-Americans.
Led by NCAA Division III national qualifier Tyler Thompson (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Heights.), who will compete at the NCAA Division III National Championships this weekend (March 17-19) in Greensboro, N.C., the BW women and men each had an improved season and placed fourth and fifth, respectively at the OAC Championships. Thompson won the OAC title in the 100-yard breaststroke, broke his own school-record and had the second fastest qualifying time in Division III this season. In addition, senior Chandler Ashbaugh (Napoleon) won a pair of OAC titles and both junior Jacob Burk (Bowling Green) and senior diver Maddie Fortune (Akron/Firestone) each won one. Fortune was the OAC Diver of the Year for the second straight season.
Cheri Harrer's (527-197) women's basketball team had its 24th straight winning season with a 17-11 record and advanced to the 2016 OAC championship game for the second straight year. BW upset 10th-ranked Ohio Northern in the OAC semifinals. First-year Head Coach Tom Heil's men's squad continued to be extremely successful with its fourth straight winning season despite not having a senior in its starting lineup. The highlight of the basketball season was a school-record 51-point performance by sophomore two-time All-OAC guard Cam Kuhn (Vermilion).
