WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Seven All-Ohio performances propel the Baldwin Wallace University women's indoor track and field teams to a third place finish at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships, hosted by Otterbein University inside the Clements Recreation Center.
BW placed third of 18 teams with 85.5 total points while host Otterbein captured the Indoor All-Ohio title with 110 points.
To earn All-Ohio honors, individual athletes must finish in the top three of their respective events. All members of the top three relay teams receive All-Ohio accolades as well.
All seven All-Ohio honors came on the track for the Yellow Jackets, led by junior outdoor All-American distance runner Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit). Brennan notched the fourth and fifth All-Ohio accolades of her career by winning both the 800-meter run and the 1-mile run. The junior got her afternoon started with a career-best and All-Ohio meet-record time of 5:03.36 to win the 1-mile, a time that ranks 23rd in the country at the time of the meet. Brennan followed it up with a win in the 800 by crossing the finish line in 2:17.06.
Senior All-OAC sprinter Grace Nemeth (Medina) joined Brennan by also earning two separate All-Ohio honors at the meet. Nemeth first ran a career best 7.97 seconds in the 60-meter dash preliminaries and then ran another career best of 7.96 seconds in the finals to finish as the runner-up. Not satisfied with second place, the senior then won the 200-meter dash in a time of 25.99 seconds for her fourth career All-Ohio honor.
The other All-Ohio performances came from freshman hurdler/sprinter Amanda Milo (Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Bella Pendola (Warsaw/River View) and freshman distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain).
Milo turned in the top time in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries at 9.13 seconds, a career best. The freshman then posted another career best of 9.08 seconds to win the 60 hurdle finals and her first All-Ohio honor. Milo currently sits 18th in the country at the time of the meet in the 60 hurdles. Meanwhile, Pendola and Laughner were the runners-up in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs, respectively. Pendola notched her third career All-Ohio accolade with a time of 10:34.36 and Laughner ran a career-best time of 18:00.21 to her first All-Ohio honor.
The 4x200-meter relay team of sophomore All-OAC sprinter Ky'leana Allen (Columbus/Bishop Hartley), freshman sprinter Heather Guiley (Louisville), Milo and Nemeth just missed out on the podium by 0.3 seconds, finishing fourth overall in a season-best time of 1:48.27.
Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC thrower Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve) had the best result for BW in the field with a fourth-place finish in the weight throw, hitting a mark of 49 feet, 8 inches.
BW will return to the track on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Raider Tune Up, hosted by the University of Mount Union inside the McPherson Academic & Athletic Complex.
