Women's Indoor Track
Women's Results - NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships
Date: March 3, 2007
Location: GRANVILLE
Ohio Wesleyan captured seven event championships on the second day to rally past Allegheny College to secure their sixth North Coast Athletic Conference championship and their first since 1994. The Bishops finished with 183 points, while Allegheny took second with 112 points. Third place went to Oberlin with 106 points and Denison jumped past Wittenberg and into fourth place with 60 points. Places five through nine were filled by Wittenberg (58), Earlham (49), Wooster (37), Kenyon (10) and Hiram (9).
The 183 team points accumulated by the Bishops was the second-most in NCAC Championship history. Ohio Wesleyan holds the record of 205 points set at the 1989 conference championships.
Ohio Wesleyan's 4x200 meter relay team comprised of Casey Ridgeway (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown), Ericka Newell (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes), Erica Wehner (London, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) and Ashlie Britton (Leroy, Ohio/Painesville Riverside) defeated Earlham's foursome by three one-hundredths of a second. Allegheny took third and Wittenberg placed fourth in Saturday's first running event.
Britton would return in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.81 to win the championship. Hannah Smith (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake) of Allegheny was second in 8.96 and Hiram's Lynne Hutchison (Solon, Ohio/Solon) placed third.
The Bishops capped off the championship with a victory in the final event, the 4x400 meter relay. The winners were made up of Amber Alegria (Tucsn, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic), Sarah Shinn (Edinboro, Pa./General McClain), Kara Reiter (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon) and Ashley Shaffer (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster).
On Friday night Denison's Christine Collins (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Chagrin Falls) won the 5,000 meters in 18:29.04. This marked Collins' second conference championship in the event. She won the 5K title as a sophomore in 2005 with a time of 17:53.88.
In the women's pole vault, Wooster's Ali Drushal (Lakeville, Ohio/Wes Holmes) cleared 10'8" to win the title. Denison freshman Emily Hammeren (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls) took second with a height of 9'8" while third went to Drushal's teammate Sarah Wiswell (Broadview Hts./Brecksville-Broadview) at 9'0".
Allegheny's Liz Earley (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) and Emily Pfeufer (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) helped the Gators out to a 18-point first-day lead by capturing a pair of championships in their respective events. Earley just missed an NCAA provisional qualifying distance with her winning throw of 41'0" in the shot put.
In the triple jump, Pfeufer broke her own NCAC record that was set at last year's championship when she jumped 37'9". Her jump was also a NCAA provisional distance. Second place in the triple jump went to Wittenberg's Nicole Bailey (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) who covered 36'1.25".
Pfeufer returned on Saturday to lock up her second championship of the meet by winning the long jump with a measurement of 17'4.25". Finishing second to Pfeufer in the long jump was Newell of Ohio Wesleyan who jumped 17'3.5". Her teammate, Shaffer, was third in 16'7.5".
Newell would comeback in the next event of Saturday morning's field events with a victory in the high jump. The Bishops picked up 27 team points in the event by taking first, second, third and sixth place. The four OWU scoring performances pushed the Bishops past Allegheny for the first time at 72-63 through six events.
Shaffer also got her gold medal in the women's 400 meter dash with a winning time of 59.05. Katie Shoemaker (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe) of Wittenberg came in behind Shaffer in 59.87 seconds.
The women's mile run was dominated by Oberlin College as the Yeowomen picked up 29 points by taking the top four spots. Flannery Cerbin (LaCrosse, Wis./LaCrosse Central) won the race with a time of 5:05.23. Maddy Davis-Hayes (Philadelphia, Pa./German Friends) finished second for the second consecutive season with a time of 5:05.92. Third and fourth place was secured by Nicky Ouellett (Dunbarton, N.H./Goffstown) and Barrie Newberger (Winfield, W.Va./Winfield), respectively.
The Yeowomen continued their dominance in the distance events with a victory in the Distance Medley Relay. The team of Alex Petek (San Rafael, Calif./San Rafael), Hannah Callen (Goldens Bridge, N.Y./John Jay), Krista Rynkowski (Tidgewood, N.J./Saddle River Day) and Ariane Burwell (San Francisco, Calif./Urban School) logged a time of 13:00.37.
Ohio Wesleyan's Shinn logged a time of 2:17.99 to win the 800 meters but Oberlin continued to gain ground on the field, logging second through fourth place for 19 points.
It was a photo-finish in the 3000 meters as Oberlin's Davis-Hayes bested Collins from Denison by just one one-hundredth of a second, crossing in 10:32.11. Denison's Elaine Binkley (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) placed third in 10:35.20.
In sprints, Wittenberg's Bailey won the 55 meter dash in 7.30 seconds. Earlham's Starr Gary was second in 7.38 seconds. OWU's Ridgeway was third in 7.39 seconds. Ridgeway did return in the 200 meter dash with a winning time of 26.31 seconds. Gary was the runner-up once again and Wittenberg's Bailey took third.
Battling Bishop Head Coach Kris Boey was named the women's Coach of the Year and Wittenberg's Nichole Bailey earned the Women's Sprinter/Hurdler of the Year plaque. The women's Middle Distance/Distance Runner of the Year was Flannery Cerbin of Oberlin and the women's Field Athlete of the Year was Emily Pfeufer of Allegheny.