RESULTS | MAGNOLIA, Ark. – On Saturday, Harding won its fourth Great American Conference Women’s Track & Field Championship as the Lady Bisons amassed 324.5 points, 91.5 clear of second place Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison’s Emma Downing won the Most Valuable Athlete award.
Harding continued to find success in the field events. In the pole vault, Sierra White set a GAC record with an NCAA Division II Provisional height of 4.02 meters, a mark that ranks as the sixth best in the country. Mariah Miller set the GAC standard in the triple jump as she became the first female to clear 12 meters with a winning jump of 12.10 meters. Cara Mason claimed a second title at the meet as she won the shot put event to add to her triumph in the hammer throw.
On the track, Kinga Szarzynska won the 800-meter run for the second time in her career and Briana Johnson crossed the line first in the 100 in a time of 12.10 seconds. Johnson also ran on the victorious 4x100 team alongside Anna-Noelle Clerima, Krisman Eakin and Ashley Reinert. Lady Bisons head coach Don Hood earned his first Track & Field Coach of the Year award.
One day after running third in the 10000, Downing competed in three events, winning the 5000 in 17:51.82, finishing second to Szarzynska in the 800 and second to her teammate Tesa Potter in the 1500. Bison hurdlers, Tahlor Brown and Mary McKey, won the 100 and 400-meter events, respectively. McKey, Tizhane Brooks, Adeline O’Connor and Taylor James combined to win the 4x400 by almost eight seconds. Isabella Lotz scored a victory in the long jump with a mark of 5.48 meters.
Southern Arkansas finished in third. Alexis Matlock took first in the high jump after clearing 1.65 meters. Southeastern Oklahoma State followed in fourth. The Savage Storm’s Jessie Sanchez became the first GAC female athlete to win both the 200 and 400 at the same Championship with times of 24.82 and 56.41 seconds, respectively. Her winning 200 time ranks as the fastest in the GAC this spring.
Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southern Nazarene, Arkansas Tech, East Central, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Ouachita rounded out the team standings.
The GAC also handed out its Elite and Distinguished Scholar Athlete award on Saturday. Seven – Harding’s Jenna Akins and Molly Passmore, Oklahoma Baptist’s Anna Harris and Brooklyn James, East Central’s Katelen Cowger, Ouachita’s Grace Pickelman and Southern Arkansas’ Carley Hale – received the Elite Scholar award as all seven own 4.00 GPAs.
A total of 29 GAC standouts earned the Distinguished Scholar Accolade in Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Elah Alcuitas, Alexis Chao, Annie Haught, Sabrina Hughbanks, Makynna Koper, Bailey Richardson, Jaclyn Robertson, Josilyn Schenk and Kayleigh Shankle; Ouachita’s Jorie Beaumont, Jessi Bennett, Kristen Holeyfield, Lexi Huse and Grace Loftin; Oklahoma Baptist’s Downing, Allison Derry, Sarah O'Bryan and Catherine Oakley; Harding’s Darcy Sanford, Natalie Toney and Brylan Williams; Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Lindsay Klasek, Sierra Parks and Megan Rose; Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Emilie Brown and Melissa Perez; East Central’s Rain Rehbein, Southern Arkansas’ Cecilia Quesada and Southern Nazarene’s Megan Wortman.