By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio – Senior three-time All-American distance runner Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) broke a Baldwin Wallace University school record to lead the women's indoor track and field team to a runner-up finish at the home Dr. William Taraschke Team Challenge on the Harrison Dillard Track inside the Lou Higgins Center.
BW finished second of five teams with 85.5 points. A fellow Ohio Athletic Conference institution, University of Mount Union, won the meet with a total of 106.5 points.
Brennan won the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:06.45, improving on the previous school-record time, which the senior already owned, by over one full second. The mark currently ranks eighth in all of NCAA Division III for the 2020 indoor season.
The Yellow Jacket distance runners turned in two additional event-winning performances between Brennan and junior distance runner Lizzy Gilreath (Mentor). Brennan also won the 1-mile run in a career-best time of 5:01.41, which currently puts her fifth in the nation in the mile. Meanwhile, Gilreath led a pack of BW runners to a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run in 19:33.62.
Freshman distance runner Maddie Miller (Medina) and junior distance runner Molina Otte (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) ensured a Yellow Jacket sweep in the 5,000 as Miller was the runner-up in 19:40.64 while Otte took third in a time of 19:46.94. Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Madison Kile (North Canton/Hoover) finished second in the 800-meter run in a career-best 2:27.92. Following in Brennan's footsteps, sophomore All-OAC distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) also ran a career-best 1-mile time of 5:12.17 to place third. Freshman distance runner Hailey Borges (Brunswick) placed third in the 400-meter dash in 1:04.18 to lead the sprint group.
Between the two senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC throwers in Jillian Roberts (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) and Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve), the Yellow Jackets swept the throwing events. Roberts won the shot put with a career-best toss of 43 feet, 7.25 inches, which currently ranks 18th in Division III at the time of the meet, while Buckhannon won the weight throw with a mark of 53'6.50". Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve) also took third in the shot put with a 39'2.25" mark and freshman jumper Jenna Sirianni (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) added another third-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 32'9.57".
In relay action, the quad of senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Katie Fowler (Mount Vernon), freshman distance runner Jenna Kaiser (Cuyahoga Falls/Woodridge), Borges and Kile won the distance medley relay in a time of 13:08.48, which is currently the 17th best time in NCAA Division III.
The Yellow Jackets hit the track again on February 7-8 for the two-day Hillsdale (Mich.) College Wide Track Classic at the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center. Friday's action begins at 12 p.m.
