By: Cannon Dees '20
ADA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University women's indoor track and field team won one Ohio Athletic Conference Championship and set one school-record as it stands in fourth place after the first day of competition after the first day of competition at the OAC Championships hosted by Ohio Northern University in the ONU Sports Center Fieldhouse.
BW is fourth of 10 teams with 33 points. The University of Mount Union is in first place with 50 points.
The Yellow Jackets were led by junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC thrower Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve) and senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) as the duo each claimed All-OAC honors. Buchannon, who claimed her third career All-OAC indoor honor, won the weight throw with a career-best mark in the weight throw dof 53 feet and 9.24 inches, which moves her up to 16th in NCAA qualifying. Brennan, who now has two All-OAC indoor accolades, placed second in the 5000-meter run as she set a school-record for the second time this season when she crossed the finish line in a time of 17:19.51.
In addition, senior All-OAC sprinter Grace Nemeth (Medina) finished first and fourth in the preliminaries of the 200-meter dash and 60-meter dash. Nemeth had a career-best times of 25.68 and 7.94 seconds 200-meter Freshman distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) took fifth in the 5000-meter run in a career-best time of 17:49.20. Junior distance runner Bella Pendola (Warsaw/River View) placed in the 5000-meter run in time of 17:57.20. Freshman hurdler Amanda Milo (Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.21 and will compete in the finals of her first OAC Championship on Saturday. Sophomore sprinter Ky'leana Allen (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) took sixth in the 400-meter dash preliminaries with a career-best mark of 1:00.87 and qualified for the 400-meter finals on Saturday. Freshman sprinter Maddy Neitzel (Brunswick) qualified for the 60-meter dash finals on Saturday as she finished seventh with a time time of 8.06.
In relay action, the distance medley relay team of junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Katie Fowler (Mount Vernon), freshman distance runner Natalie Vinci (Canton/St. Thomas Aquinas), sophomore All-OAC distance runner Rebecca Penrose (Springfield/Shawnee) and sophomore All-OAC distance runner Madison Kile (North Canton/Hoover) placed third in a time of 12:41.95.
BW is back in action on Saturday, February 23 for the second and final day of the OAC Championships. Field events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m with running events to begin at 2 p.m.
