By: Erin Madden

TIFFIN, Ohio - Baldwin Wallace junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) won an OAC title on the first day of the 2021 OAC Outdoor Championships, hosted by Heidelberg University inside Hoernemann Stadium. 

After the first day of action, BW sits in fourth place of 10 teams with 20 points. John Carroll University leads the championship meet with a total of 78 points. 

Laughner was the first Yellow Jacket to make a podium appearance at the championships, climbing all the way to the top after winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 11:07.36. The junior beat the runner-up by over 13 seconds en route to her third career OAC title and the first of her outdoor career. Freshman distance runner Cassie Kolonchuk (Canal Winchester) added two more points to BW's team total by placing seventh in the same event in a career-best time of 12:18.22. 

In relay action, the 4x800-meter relay team of senior All-OAC distance runner Molina Otte (Omaha, Neb./Millard West), Laughner, freshman All-OAC distance runner Kamaria Montgomery (Louisville/Canton GlenOak) and freshman All-OAC distance runner Hope Murphy (Mogadore) combined for a fifth-place finish in 9:58.69, earning four points. 

Out in the field, senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC thrower Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve) finished fifth in the discus throw with a mark of 133 feet, 2 inches and added four points to the team total. 

BW concludes the two-day 2021 OAC Outdoor Championships on Friday, May 7, beginning at 11 a.m. inside Hoernemann Stadium.