Women's Track and Field 4/20/2019 11:12:00 PM courtesy GAC Communications

Harding Women Win GAC Track and Field Championship

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Harding claimed the Great American Conference Women's Track & Field Championship title for the third time in four years as they edged Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at Eddie Hurt Jr. Memorial Track to reclaim the top spot.

Chelsea Howard led the Lady Bisons as she shared Championship MVP honors. She successfully defended her titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and she ran the anchor leg on a GAC Championship record-setting 400-meter relay squad that posted an NCAA Provisional time of 46.26 seconds. She added a third-place in the long jump.

Anne-Noelle Clerima, in the 400, and Liz Fouts, in the discus, reached NCAA Provisional standards in their respective events for Harding. Ashley Reinert took second to Howard in both sprints and she ran the second leg of the winning relay team. Kinga Szarzynka finished as the runner up in the 800 and Darcy Sanford tied for second in the high jump. Steve Guymon earned GAC Coach of the Year following the meet.

Other event championship for Harding included Alicja Minczuk (3,000-meter steeplechase, 11:18.62) and Emily Shell (heptathlon, 4,483). Shell also placed third in the triple jump at 37 feet, 11.25 inches, breaking a 30-year-old school record.

Oklahoma Baptist, last year's champions, came up 12 points shy of repeating. Cameka Witter matched Howard in points earned at the meet to share the Championship MVP accolade. She became the first GAC woman to claim titles in both the 400 and the 800. She smashed the GAC Championship record in the 400 as she posted the third-fastest time in the nation, 54.01 seconds. In the 800, she edged Szarzynka, the 2018 champion, by less than three-tenths of a second. She ran the anchor leg on the 1600-meter relay and took third in the 200.

The Lady Bison produced four additional individual champions. Leah Molter continued her dominance in the hurdles as she won the 100 for the fourth-straight year and the 400 for the third-consecutive season. She ran a season-best in the 400, 1:01.05. Tesa Potter repeated as the champion in the 1500; Kaylee Large Crowson won the 5000 for the second time in three years - one day after she won the 10,000.

Southern Arkansas placed third for the second-straight GAC Championships. T'Keyah Crockett added a title in discus to the hammer throw title she won on Friday. She met the NCAA Provisional mark with a throw of 46.60m. Courtney Williams doubled up with titles in the high jump and the triple jump. She produced the top triple jump in the GAC this year, 11.77m. She finished second in the long jump. Her teammate, Adrianna Tillman won the event. Laquesta Kindle placed second in the 100-meter hurdles and Chassidy Jermany took second to Williams in the triple jump.

Oklahoma Christian finished fourth while East Central and Rogers State tied for fifth. The Eagles' Destiny Grace won the shot put for the third-straight year. ECU's Anna Mora added a runner-up showing in the 5000 to her second-place result in the 10,000 from Friday night. The Hillcats' best result came in the 400-meter relay where they took second to Harding.

Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene rounded out the team standings. Alexis Chao became the first student-athlete from Southwestern Oklahoma State to win an event at the GAC Championships as she claimed the pole vault with a GAC Championship-record mark of 3.35m.

The GAC also handed out its Elite and Distinguished Scholar Athlete award on Saturday. Five student-athletes with 4.00 GPAs received the Elite Scholar Athlete honor – Harding's Anna Bristo and Kaylee Rice, East Central's Abbie Winchester, Southern Arkansas' Carley Hale and Southern Nazarene's.

A total of 15 GAC standouts earned the Distinguished Scholar Accolade in Harding's Parker Fane, Olivia Ness, Emily Shell, Kirstie Smith; Oklahoma Christian's Kelsey Castillo, Ivy Lobley, Rachel Meyers and Leisa VanVooren; Oklahoma Baptist's JoziRose Mayfield and Raigen Servati; Southern Nazarene's Nancy Jurado and Dragana Samardzic; ECU's Rain Rehbain; SAU's Michelle Donohue and SWOSU's Jordan Caulkins

Print Friendly Version