The Ohio Wesleyan women's track & field team successfully defended its North Coast Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championships last season, and head coach Kris Boey and the Battling Bishops look to make more history by extending those strings to 11 consecutive indoor conference titles and 9 consecutive outdoor championships, continuing the best sustained performance in Ohio Wesleyan history.
"We did something historic last year in winning our 10th-straight indoor conference title, our eighth-straight outdoor conference title, and the outdoor All-Ohio championship with certainly one of the best, if not the best, teams in school history," Boey said. "We have an exceptional balance of experience and talented young people, and this should be the best year that we've had if we capitalize on all our opportunities."
Boey looks to the sprints and hurdles to be one of the Bishops' strengths in 2017.
Junior Amanda Clay (Van Wert) won All-NCAC honors in the 60- and 100-meter dashes and helped the 400-meter relay team to a conference title, senior Sierra Wright (Loudonville) was a part of 4 conference champion relay teams and added all-conference honors in the 400-meter dash in 2015, senior Mallory McCormick (Gahanna/Bishop Hartley) placed in the 400-meter dash and helped the 1600-meter relay team win All-NCAC recognition, and junior Emily Brown (New Concord/John Glenn) also was a part of the league-champion 400-meter relay team.
Freshman Megan Sievers (Strongsville); freshman Amarii Johnson (Chicago, Ill./Evanston Township); freshman Morgan Freyhof (West Liberty/West Liberty-Salem), who was part of 4 school records in high school; freshman Jaliyah Atkinson (Columbus/Groveport Madison), who was part of 2 school-record relay teams in high school; and freshman Cirrus Robinson (Ashland), who set a school record in the 400-meter dash in high school, all look to make an immediate impact. Freshman Ty Mansfield (Columbus/Bexley), who will join the team for the outdoor season, also seeks to contribute.
In the hurdles, sophomore Alyssa Acevedo (Medina) and sophomore Rachel Bush (Mount Gilead) return.
The jumps look to be another Bishop stronghold.
Acevedo won an NCAC championship in the indoor long jump, breaking a 35-year-old school record, Brown holds the school record in the outdoor long jump, and Clay shared the long jump record that Acevedo broke at last year's NCAC indoor championship meet.
Sievers placed fourth in the long jump at the state high school championship meet. Robinson was the state runner-up in the high jump, and freshman Tiffany Moore (Cleveland/Euclid) also could contribute right away in the high jump.
Junior Nicole Rozsa (Silver Lake/Cuyahoga Falls) won a conference title in the outdoor pole vault and won All-NCAC honors indoors, and senior Mariah Hicks (Ashville/Teays Valley) and junior Kelsie Steinmetz (Toledo/Notre Dame Academy) each placed in the pole vault both indoors and outdoors.
In the multi-event competitions, senior MaryKate Caja (Lakewood/St. Joseph Academy) placed in the heptathlon. Brown also returns, and Mansfield will help in the heptathlon.
Ohio Wesleyan returns a deep distance corps.
Senior Sarah Fowler (Mount Vernon/Fredericktown) won All-America honors in cross country, the indoor 5000-meter run, and the 3000-meter steeplechase during the 2015-16 academic year and looks to repeat that trifecta this year.
Bush placed in the indoor 800-meter run and the 3000-meter steeplechase at last year's NCAC championships. Junior Rachell Resnik (Van Buren) placed in the outdoor 800-meter run and joined junior Rheanna Wilson (Cambridge/New Concord John Glenn) and junior Adira Jarman (Versailles, Ky./Woodford County) in winning all-conference honors in the distance medley relay.
Newcomers who could contribute include freshman Morgan Smith (Tiffin/Calvert), a state qualifier in the 800-meter run in high school; freshman Sana Qamar (Dublin/Coffman), who won all-conference honors in high school; freshman Erica VanHoose (Marysville), who was part of a school-record relay team in high school; freshman Maddie Meyer (Marion, Mass./Old Rochester Regional), who helped her high school team win a pair of league championships; and sophomore Miranda Gumbita (Lodi/Nordonia), a transfer from Syracuse.
In the throws, junior Dominique Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson), who placed in the discus at the NCAC outdoor championship meet, and senior Angela Landrum (West Salem/Lodi Cloverleaf) are the top returnees.
Acevedo, Steinmetz, and sophomore Leah Nathanson (Newton, Mass./South) will contribute in the javelin.
Freshman Madison Haggerty (Loudonville), who won 4 conference championships in the shot put in high school, winning Field Event MVP honors once; freshman Julie Hume (Poway, Calif.), who set a school record in the discus in high school; Moore; and freshman Gretchen Weaver (Hudson) will look to contribute immediately.
Ohio Wesleyan opens the indoor season on Dec. 3 at Case Western Reserve. The indoor schedule gets into full swing on January 13 with Ohio Wesleyan's Ron Althoff Classic, the NCAC championship meet will be held March 3-4 at Oberlin and the NCAA Division III championship will be held March 10-11 at Naperville, Ill. The outdoor season opens on March 17-18 at the Emory Invitational, and features the annual Marv Frye Invitational on April 7-8, the annual All-Ohio Division III championship meet on April 15 and the NCAC championship meet on May 5-6 at DePauw before the NCAA Division III championship May 25-27 at Geneva, Ohio.
