BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's outdoor track and field teams competed in the unscored Harrison Dillard Twilight meet, hosted inside George Finnie Stadium.
Out in the field, junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC thrower Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve) placed fifth in the hammer throw and seventh in the shot put with marks of 168 feet, 6 inches and 42'6.25", respectively. Fellow junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC thrower Jillian Roberts (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Hts.) recorded a season-best throw of 40'9.5" in the shot put to finish 12th.
A pair of distance runners notched event wins on the track between junior two-time All-American distance runner Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) and sophomore All-OAC distance runner Madison Kile (North Canton/Hoover). Brennan ran to the second-fastest time in NCAA Division III at the time of the meet with a season-best 2:10.13 in the 800-meter run, less than 0.1 seconds off her own school record time. Kile overtook the lead down the home stretch to win the 1,500-meter run as she posted a career-best time of 4:38.15. Both Brennan and Kile competed in other events as Brennan finished fourth in the 1,500 in 4:43.37 while Kile placed 11th in the 800 in 2:24.62.
In one of the closest races of the day, freshman All-OAC distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa. /Central Mountain) was the runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she toed the line for just the second time in the event. The freshman crossed the finish line in a career-best 10:55.36, which puts her 15th in NCAA Division III at the time of the meet.
Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Bella Pendola (Warsaw/River View) and junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Katie Fowler (Mount Vernon) each also competed in the 800 and 1,500 races. Pendola took third in the 1,500 in 4:42.25 and Fowler ran times of a career-best 2:21.54 and 5:21.74 to finish ninth in the 800 and 17th in the 1,500, respectively.
In the sprints group, senior All-OAC sprinter Grace Nemeth (Medina) placed third in both of her events as she ran 12.53 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 25.75 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Freshman All-OAC hurdler Amanda Milo (Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) had the third-fastest time of 14.98 seconds in the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries and then followed it up with a sixth-place finish in in the finals in 15.99 seconds. Sophomore distance runner Megan Vaughn (Amherst/Firelands) finished off the night by running a time of 20:46.77 to place 11th in the 5,000-meter run.
Select members of the BW track and field teams will compete at a two-day NCAA Last Chance meet, hosted by North Central (Ill.) College Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16 at the Benedetti-Wherli Stadium in Naperville, Illinois.
