By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University women's indoor track and field team finished as the runner-up at the home-opening Dr. William Taraschke Team Challenge on the Harrison Dillard Track inside the Lou Higgins Center.
BW placed second of three teams with 102 points. Otterbein University won the meet with a total of 121 points.
Senior All-OAC distance runner Hastings Marek (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) led the Yellow Jackets on the track by sweeping both of her individual events. Marek started off her afternoon by winning the 1-mile run in a career-best 5:03.59, which ranks third in NCAA Division III at the time of the meet. The senior then followed that up with a win in the 800-meter run in 2:17.09, which ranks second nationally at the time of the meet. Freshman distance runner Hope Murphy (Mogadore) also picked up another event win in her young career, crossing the finish line in 3:12.12 to win the 1,000-meter run. As the lone entrant in the 5,000-meter run, freshman distance runner Cassie Kolonchuk (Canal Winchester) added seven more points to BW's team total when she finished her race in 21:10.44.
The Yellow Jackets also had an additional number of top-three finishes on the track. Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) was the runner-up to Marek in the 1-mile run in a career-best time of 5:09.93, which currently puts Laughner eighth in Division III in the event. Senior distance runner Molina Otte (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) finished second behind Marek in the 800-meter run in a career-best 2:23.43, which ranks Otte 18th in NCAA Division III. Junior All-OAC distance runner Natalie Vinci (Canton/St. Thomas Aquinas) turned in a career-best 1:04.66 to place second in the 400-meter dash. Freshman distance runner Kamaria Montgomery (Louisville/Canton GlenOak) finished third in the 1,000-meter run in a time of 3:35.25.
Out in the field, sophomore thrower Abby Rodriguez (Grandview, Wash./Prosser) won the shot put with a season-best mark of 36 feet, 2.25 inches. In her first collegiate meet, sophomore thrower Ashley Geiss (Brunswick) placed third in the same event when her longest toss traveled 33'3.75". Freshmen throwers Selena Shelley (Mentor) and Maddie Liberati (Lisbon/David Anderson) notched career-best marks in the weight throw as Shelley was the runner-up with a throw of 39'3.25" and Liberati finished third with a throw of 36'2.25". Freshman jumper Emily Randall (Mount Gilead) placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 29'11.5".
In relay action, Murphy, Laughner, Marek and Otte combined to win the 4x400-meter relay in a BW season-best time of 4:15.13.
BW will next compete on Sunday, February 14, in the OAC Elite Meet, which will be split between two locations. The distance and throwing events will be contested at Otterbein inside the Clements Recreation Center while the sprints and jumps will take place at Capital University inside the Capital Center Field House.
