By: Erin Madden 

BEREA, Ohio - Three Baldwin Wallace University women's outdoor track and field student-athletes will continue their season at the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 

Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC thrower Brooke Buckhannon (Collins/Western Reserve) and Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC distance runner Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) return to the national meet after both competed in the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Meanwhile, freshman All-OAC distance runner Hope Murphy (Mogadore) makes her first appearance on the national stage. Buckhannon will compete in the hammer throw, Laughner in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Murphy in the 1,500-meter run. 

Buckhannon qualified for her third career national meet and her second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She comes into the meet ranked fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 182 feet, 10 inches. Buckhannon won the hammer throw at seven separate meets in 2021, including a defense of her OAC title in the event from 2019 which she achieved with a conference meet record. The senior was named OAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week three times this season. 

Laughner posted the fourth-fastest time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to qualify for the second national track meet of her career. The Junior turned in a career-best time of 10:46.95 at the Harrison Dillard Twilight meet just a few weeks ago. Laughner is also both the reigning OAC champion in the steeplechase and was subsequently named the OAC Outdoor Distance Athlete of the Year. She received OAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors once during the outdoor season. 

One of only two freshmen in the 1,500-meter run field, Murphy will conclude a stellar freshman campaign at her first national meet. She turned in a career-best time of 4:37.42 at the Harrison Dillard Twilight to vault from outside the top-50 in the event into the top-20 at the time of the meet. Murphy was named OAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week once during the outdoor season. 

The 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will take place Thursday through Saturday, May 27-29, at the Irwin Belk Track in Greensboro, North Carolina.