By: Erin Madden
TIFFIN, Ohio - The 11th-nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's outdoor track and field team won the Greg Tyson Jr. Invitational, hosted by Heidelberg University inside Hoernemann Stadium.
BW won the five-team meet with 153 points while Wilmington College was the runner-up with a total of 111.5 points.
Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference distance runner Hastings Marek (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) won both of her individual events, starting with the 1,500-meter run. The senior finished that race in a career-best 4:41.09 and then followed that up with a career-best 2:16.44 to win the 800-meter run. Freshman All-OAC distance runner Hope Murphy (Mogadore) and junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) made it a clean sweep for the Yellow Jackets in the 1,500 as Murphy was the runner-up in a career-best 4:49.29 and Laughner placed third in 4:50.42.
Laughner, junior All-OAC distance runner Natalie Vinci (Canton/St. Thomas Aquinas) and freshman distance runner Cassie Kolonchuk (Canal Winchester) collected four additional top-three finishes for BW. Laughner, the reigning OAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week, placed third in the 800 in a career-best time of 2:27.01. Vinci took third in both the 400-meter dash and the 200-meter dash in times of 1:02.40 and 28.04 seconds, respectively. Kolonchuk added eight points to the Yellow Jackets' team score with her second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:18.20.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Vinci, senior All-OAC distance runner Molina Otte (Omaha, Neb./Millard West), Marek and Murphy won the event in a BW season-best 4:13.30.
In the field, BW claimed two other event wins between sophomore jumper Jenna Sirianni (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) and senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC thrower Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve). Sirianni leapt a career-best 33 feet, 0.25 inches to win the triple jump and Buckhannon tossed 120'8" to win the discus throw. Buckhannon also finished as the runner-up in both the shot put and the hammer throw, tossing a season-best 40'10.25" and 159'4" in those events respectively. Senior Academic All-OAC jumper Stephanie Magvas (Westlake/Magnificat) placed third in the high jump after clearing a height of 4'7.5".
BW competes again on Saturday, April 17, at the OAC Elite Meet, hosted by Otterbein University inside Memorial Stadium.
