SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University women's track & field team competed at the NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championship hosted by Wittenberg over the weekend. The Battling Bishops finished second in the eight-team field, scoring 150 points.

PENTATHLON RECAP
The Bishops started the weekend with five points after last weekend's NCAC Combined-Event Championship. Kateri Hoy and Kali Kohler represented the Red and Black in the indoor pentathlon, finishing sixth and seventh.

Hoy took sixth and earned three team points with 2484 points in the pentathlon. She finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.79 and scored 752 points. In the field events, Hoy added 491 points in the high jump with a mark of 1.38 meters, 355 points in the shot put with a mark of 7.31 meters, and 469 points in the long jump with a mark of 4.25 meters. She finished off the weekend with 519 points in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:44.82.

Kohler finished seventh and earned two team points with 2431 points in the pentathlon. She started off with 609 points in the 60-meter with a time of 10.57. In the field events she added 460 points with a 1.35-meter mark in the highjump, 347 points with a 7.18-meter mark in the shot put, and 469 points with a 4.66-meter mark in the long jump. Finally, Kohler recorded 546 points in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:42.40.

TRACK EVENTS
OWU earned 102 points on the track, headlined by 17 in the 60-meter dash, 12 in the 200-meter dash, and 11 in the 3000-meter run.

Katherine Dortmund, Alaina Nathan, and Aelyn Baumbarger garnered 17 points in the 60-meter dash with finishes in second, fourth, and fifth. Dortmund dropped 0.01 second off the NCAC record in prelims at 7.72 before ultimately settling for second at 7.76, still beating out her top time of 7.78 set at last year's championships and earning eight points as well as All-NCAC recognition. Nathan turned in a career-best 7.77 in prelims followed by a 7.86 in finals for fourth place and five points. Baumbarger recorded a 7.94 in finals after a 7.88 in prelims, scoring four points for fifth place.

Kennedy Elfers, Dortmund, Nathan, and Kaylee Lusk combined for 12 points in the 200-meter dash with fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth place finishes. Elfers led the group in fourth with a time of 25.81, scoring five points. Dortmund was next with a 25.83, placing fifth and scoring four points. Nathan and Lusk technically tied for seventh at 26.37. However Nathan took the tiebreaker with a time 0.005 seconds faster at 26.362, scoring two points. Lusk came in at 26.367 for eighth and one point.

Zoe Ward, Sophie Cotts, and Allison Dietz turned in 11 points in the 3000-meter run with finishes in third, sixth, and seventh. Ward earned All-NCAC honors and six team points in third with a time of 10:11.39. Cotts secured sixth and three points with a career-best 10:20.47, moving up to seventh on OWU's all-time top-10. Dietz took seventh and two points with a time of 10:22.24.

Dortmund and Layla Bauknecht came in second place and eighth place in the 60-meter hurdles for nine points. Dortmund technically tied for first and set a new NCAC record with a time of 8.62. Unfortunately, she would fall to second in the tiebreaker with a time just 0.005 behind at 8.620, still setting a new program record and earning eight points as well as All-NCAC honors. Bauknecht turned in a time of 9.47 for eighth and one point.

Brianna Montgomery and McKenna Downing nabbed nine points for Ohio Wesleyan in the 800-meter run, finishing fourth and fifth. Montgomery recorded a new career best of 2:16.45 in prelims, followed by a 2:17.68 in finals for fourth and five points. Downing placed fifth with a 2:19.55, earning four points.

Montgomery, Ward, and Ella Chomic combined for nine points in the mile. Montgomery managed a career-best 4:59.84, finishing fourth and scoring five points. Ward was sixth with a career-best 5:01.81, scoring three points. Chomic came in eighth and scored one point with a career-best time of 5:09.09, earning herself a spot on the OWU all-time top-10.

Lusk and Elfers finished fifth and sixth in the 400-meter dash for seven points. Lusk secured fifth with a career-best 58.34, scoring four points. Elfers finished sixth with a career-best 58.37, scoring three points.

Cotts tallied six more points in the 5000-meter run and earned All-NCAC honors with a third place finish and a career-best 17:43.86.

The Battling Bishops tacked on 22 points in the relay events, scoring eight in both the distance medley and the 4x200, and six in the 4x400. The Red and Black's DMR team of Zora Starner, Mia Staab, Elsa Hoam, and Chomic broke the previous NCAC record and finished second with a time of 12:22.41, earning All-NCAC honors. The 4x200 team of Baumbarger, Lusk, Nathan, and Elfers did similarly with another broken NCAC record – as well as a broken program record – and a second place finish for All-NCAC honors with a time of 1:41.29. Lastly, the 4x400 relay of Bauknecht, Montgomery, Downing, and Staab secured third and All-NCAC honors with a time of 4:00.55.

FIELD EVENTS
The Bishops put up 48 points in the field, headlined by high jump and pole vault with 17 and 16.

The 17 points in high jump came courtesy of Niyah Shipman, Layla Bauknecht, Audrey Spooner, and Amarah McPhaul, finishing third, fourth, and tying for fifth. Shipman managed a mark of 1.59 meters for third place, six points, and All-NCAC honors. Bauknecht took fourth with a mark of 1.56 meters, scoring five points. Spooner and McPhaul tied for fifth with identical marks of 1.48 meters, both earning three points.

The 16 points in the pole vault came via Addie Beck, Stephanie Novak, and Sarah Radloff. Beck became the NCAC Champion with a career-best top mark of 3.55 meters, moving up to third on the OWU all-time top-10 while scoring 10 points and earning All-NCAC honors. Novak came in fourth with a mark of 3.35 meters, good for five points. Radloff finished eighth with mark of 3.10 meters, scoring one point.

Emma Hall landed five points in the weight throw with a fourth place finish at 13.92 meters.

Alexis Eusey secured three points in the shot put with a mark of 10.83 meters, finishing sixth.

The final two points came in the long jump and triple jump. Spooner turned in a mark of 5.13 meters in the long jump for eighth place and one point. Likewise, Claire Campbell took eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 10.41 meters, moving into the OWU all-time top-10.

UP NEXT
The Bishops set their sights on the NCAA Indoor National Championship on March 13th and 14th in Birmingham, Alabama.