*Story by David Wahl III
MARIETTA, Ohio – The Wilmington College women's track & field team placed 8th in the first outdoor meet since 2019. After a long 681 day wait, the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) and all athletes finally got to breathe. John Carrol racked up 189 points and took first while Otterbein finished close behind in second.
Wilmington traveled with a short squad, and limited athletes to single events. Kayli Sullivan settled in and competed in only the hammer throw and tossed 148' 7" for third place. Lily Williford was one place shy of scoring in the pole vault. Savannah Rhodes started off the running with a 45:04 time and a third-place finish in the 10,000-meter run.
Madison Dietz had a great day, scoring in every event she competed in. In the 100-meter dash, she placed seventh in 13.6 seconds, shared third place honors in the long jump with a leap of 15' 8.25" and finished the day with a fifth place finish in triple jump (31' 3.75"). Senior Emma Burke made her 2021 debut with a fifth place finish in the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:03.85. Freshmen Kaitlyn Rauch and Julia Bystrom finished off the day with seventh and eighth place finishes respectively in the 5,000-meter run.
"I was very happy with results from the first Outdoor meet and our team's effort," remarked Head Track & Field Coach Ron Combs. "We didn't load the meet up, having our athletes focus on 1-2 events. It was very nice to have Emma Burke return for the outdoor season."
Wilmington continues the outdoor season next weekend with a five-team meet in Westerville, Ohio.
